Begin Amenable to Early Elections but Government Will Not Resign

— Premier Menachem Begin has apparently decided to call for early elections but his government will not resign as a result of the crisis precipitated by the resignation from the Cabinet yesterday of Finance Minister Yigal Hurwitz. Begin broke a long silence on the subject following a special session of the Cabinet this morning.

He told reporters that a majority of the ministers now favor early elections and he was inclined to agree, but none of the ministers had suggested that the government resign. Under law, it must initiate a bill dissolving the present Knesset and specifying the date for elections.

Begin said no definite decisions were made to-day. He stressed that the need for early elections arose from the new parliamentary situation. Hur-witz, whose resignation takes effect tomorrow, is expected to pull his three-man Rafi faction out of the Likud-led coalition. That will leave the coalition with less than a majority in the Knesset unless Begin can bring one or more splinter factions into his Cabinet.

BEGIN OPTING FOR JUNE ELECTIONS

Begin is said to be opposed to governing under such circumstances which, among other things, would increase the risk of defeat in the Knesset on a no-confidence motion. He indicated that early elections are a virtual certainty leaving only the date to be settled. He said that would be determined in a consultation with the coalition factions today and tomorrow. Most observers believe Begin wants the elections in June. The opposition Labor Party has already submitted a motion calling for elections in April.

Only three ministers opposed early elections at today’s Cabinet meeting. Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon, Absorption Minister David Levy and Minister of Commerce and Industry Gideon Patt all urged the government to serve out its full term which expires in November.

Begin is scheduled to meet with the Likud Knesset faction at noon tomorrow to set a date for early elections. But last ditch efforts are being made to avoid elections before November. Justice Minister Moshe Nissim and the Likud floor managers in the Knesset were trying desperately today to patch together a viable majority that would enable the Begin government to remain in office through next summer and fall.

One focus of these efforts is Shawfiq Assad, a member of the three-member Ahva faction which split some time ago from the Democratic Movement. He was reportedly under pressure to join Likud as his colleague, Akiva Nof, has already done. But the consensus among observers is that no reliable majority can be put together to replace Rafi and the coalition parties themselves would dissolve the Knesset and call elections for late June.

Labor, meanwhile, is trying to line up majority support for its proposed election date, April 28. But observers believe that if the coalition decides on a June date, the Labor bid would be defeated.

COALITION MAJORITY WHITTLED DOWN

Begin’s coalition has survived more than 20 no-confidence votes in the Knesset since its victory over the Labor Party in May, 1977. But its Knesset majority has been steadily whittled down by defections of individual ministers and entire factions. In November, it defeated a no-confidence motion on the issue of inflation by a mere three votes, its slimmest margin to date and the consensus in political circles is that it could not withstand another challenge on economic issues.

Hurwitz’s departure was precipitated by such an issue — a pay raise for teachers which he opposed as inflationary but which was supported by a Cabinet majority yesterday. It was the second time Hurwitz quit Begin’s Cabinet. He resigned as Minister of Commerce and Industry late in 1978 in protest against the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty that requires Israel to return Sinai to Egypt. But he was back in the government in November, 1979 to take over the Treasury port-folio at Begin’s request in order to wage a more effective war on inflation

At the time, inflation was approaching an annual rate of 100 percent. Hurwitz, a conservative businessman with strong nationalist views, agreed to become Finance Minister only if he was given a free hand to slash the national budget, pare the civil service and sacrifice social benefits to build up industrial production.

MEMBERS OF THE RAFI FACTION

Hurwitz belonged to the hard-line Laam faction, a component of Likud which split several years ago into the Independent Center headed by Health Minister Eliezer Shostak, and Rafi headed by Hurwitz. The Shostak group merged into Herut while Rafi retained its separate identity as a Likud component. In addition to Hurwitz, Rafi members are Zalman Shuval, a member of the original Rafi faction of the Labor Party headed by the late Premier David Ben Gurion and subsequently by Moshe Dayan, and Yitzhak Peretz, former Mayor of Dimona who is chairman of the Zionist General Council.