Rabin Withstands Challenge As Knesset Defeats Golan Bill

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin withstood another challenge to his peace policies this week when the Knesset narrowly defeated a bill that would have thrown up roadblocks to any territorial concessions on the Golan Heights.

The Golan Bill would have required a special majority of 70 out of 120 Knesset votes — or a simple majority in a national referendum of all eligible Israeli voters — before Israel could turn over any portion of the Golan in a future peace deal with Syria.

Observers had said the Golan Bill’s passage would have made it impossible to conclude peace negotiations with Syria before the year was over.

It was defeated Wednesday in a Knesset tie, 59-59.

Both the governing coalition and the opposition had mobilized forces for the vote, which ultimately turned out the ballot of a single Knesset member – – Deputy Housing Minister Alex Goldfarb of the centrist Yi’ud Party.

Likud Knesset member Haim Kaumfman was absent due to illness. Avraham Poraz of the dovish Meretz Party agreed not to vote.

Both government and opposition leaders claimed victory after the vote.

Rabin said the opposition had failed in its effort to “handcuff” his negotiations with Syria.

“This was a stupid bill, the likes of which has never been seen before in the Knesset,” Rabin told Army Radio. “I believe that if it had passed, there would have been a sigh of relief in Damascus” because it would show that the Syrians were “not the only ones responsible for holding up the peace process.”

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres focused on the opposition’s inability to muster a majority for the crucial vote.

“The vote was about a referendum, not about the Golan Heights, not about peace, not about negotiations,” he told Israel Radio. “And even on that particular vote, the opposition failed.”

But Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu said the final tally was a serious blow to the Rabin government.

“Rabin barely squeaked out a tie,” he said. “The truth was exposed. This is a government that has no majority, not in the Knesset and not among the people.”

Rabin had warned before the vote was taken that he could not conduct negotiations with the Syrians if it passed.

Further, he and Peres were worried that passage of the legislation could damage Israel’s standing abroad.

There was no official reaction from Damascus on the Knesset vote.

Israel Radio reported that U.S. Middle East peace envoy Dennis Ross had met this week in Washington with Syrian Ambassador Walid Muallem to try to lay the groundwork for the resumption of talks between top Israeli and Syrian military officers.

Those talks were last held for three days in late June. During a subsequent visit to the Middle East, Ross had been unable to secure a date from Assad for the resumption of the talks.

The bill had been submitted by three members of Rabin’s own Labor Party – – Avigdor Kahalani, Emanuel Zismann and Ya’acov Shefi.

Six similar bills had previously been presented to the Knesset by opposition members, but they were withdrawn before a vote.

The center of activity prior to Wednesday’s vote was Goldfarb, as government and opposition members put on the pressure to vote their way. But the deputy minister refused to reveal in advance how he would vote.

Tensions intensified when Goldfarb was absent from his seat when his name was first called during the roll call. When he returned, all necks craned toward the last row, where Goldfarb was surrounded by Knesset members trying to sway him one last time.

His vote against the bill was greeted with boos and heckling from the opposition bench.

With its defeat, the bill cannot be resubmitted for at least nine months.

Meanwhile, in another Knesset vote, a bill was defeated that would have incorporated the communities of Ma’aleh Adumim, Givat Ze’ev and Betar into Jerusalem’s municipal borders.

The bill, which lost by a vote of 57-54, had been jointly presented by Likud member Yehoshua Matza and Labor member Emanuel Zismann.