Many political observers and a large section of the news media are expressing serious doubts over whether former Premier Golda Meir’s inclusion in the Labor Party’s new leadership forum can rescue the floundering party from the ideological storms and financial ills that threaten to rend it asunder.
Some sources are suggesting that Mrs. Meir’s return to an active role in Labor Party politics for the first time since she retired from the Premiership in 1974 poses a distinct threat to Premier Yitzhak Rabin’s shaky power base. These sources contend that Rabin, though nominal head of the party, has never succeeded in getting a grip on its leadership.
The former Premier, who is now 77, agreed during a private meeting with Rabin and other ministers and Labor Party leaders at her Tel Aviv home last week to participate in the leadership forum. That body, which includes representatives of the three old factions that comprise Labor–Mapai, Achdut Avodah and Rafi–will hopefully serve as a binding force, resolve intra-party disputes, set policy and restore confidence in Israel’s governing party.
Mrs. Meir is still immensely popular with many Israelis, and, having been in retirement for two years, represents a “new face.” But some Laborites have expressed astonishment that the leadership forum was established with the conspicuous absence of former Foreign Minister Abba Eban and former Defense Minister Moshe Dayan.
SEE VICTORY FOR HARD LINE
Others say, however, that with Meir “back in action” the party can hope for new life. “The party needs a leader, there is no doubt about that, and it will not be hard for Golda to fit into this role,” one source observed. The question posed by many is whether this will be at the expense of Rabin and whether it presages the party’s shift away from the “doveish” tendencies of the Rabin government toward the “hard line” in foreign policy that Mrs. Meir personified during her tenure in office–some say intractably.
The newspaper Haaretz quoted un-named “top Labor Party leaders” as saying that Meir’s comeback “is a hard blow to the Prime Minister.” Daniel Bloch, political correspondent of the Histadrut newspaper Davar, wondered whether there was no possibility for the Labor Party to revive itself without summoning one of its oldest hands out of retirement. “It is something like calling back an old nanny to educate the children who never got used to the young teacher,” Bloch wrote.
The feeling inside and out of the Labor Party seems to be that the creation of the leadership forum is a temporary measure from which Rabin hopes to gain time to confront the crucial issues that threaten the party and his government. Critics maintain it is a palliative which, even with Mrs. Meir’s presence, will have less political clout than the former Premier’s famous “kitchen cabinet.”
Many observers view the latest development as symptomatic of the leadership vacuum which must be filled–not by Mrs. Meir, if only because of her advanced age–but by someone other than Rabin.
ZADOK’S ROLE ASSESSED
In that connection, many political pundits are beginning to look with interest at Justice Minister Haim Zadok who appears to be rapidly making himself an indispensable figure in the Rabin Cabinet. Zadok, a 63-year-old lawyer, was included in the new leadership forum. His name is being mentioned increasingly as a possible successor to Rabin, primarily because the man regarded as Rabin’s chief rival, Defense Minister Shimon Peres, is too controversial within the party for the top leadership position.
Zadok is not unaware of the talk. With consummate skill; however, he has been careful to maintain a low profile at this stage and to do nothing which could be construed as a challenge to Rabin. In policy matters, such as the bitter debate over the government’s assent to explore non-belligerency as a Middle East diplomatic goal. Zadok has lined up squarely with the Premier and has proven to be an eloquent spokesman for his policies. But political observers say the astute Zadok is biding his time and will advance his candidacy for party and national leadership when the time seems most propitious.
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