The Telem faction suspended coalition negotiations with Premier Menachem Begin yesterday after failing to reach agreement on basic policy matters. The party’s steering committee is scheduled to meet next week to evaluate the situation.
Begin is anxious to incorporate the two-man faction, founded by the late Moshe Dayan, into his Likud-led government. The defection of two Likud MKs–Amnon Lin and Yitzhak Peretz last month deprived the government of its one vote Knesset majority. But Begin is not willing to accede to Telem’s demand that the government adopt Dayan’s proposal to implement autonomy unilaterally on the West Bank and Gaza Strip if no agreement can be reached with the Palestinians.
He reportedly suggested that the Telem MKs submit the proposal to the Cabinet, after they become members of the coalition. Unilateral autonomy was flatly rejected by the Likud Cabinet when it was proposed by Dayan himself who, as Foreign Minister, wielded for more influence than Telem does today.
Telem is also uneasy over the government’s declared intention to demand Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and Gaza Strip after the five year autonomy transition period. A Telem spokesman said last week that policy and principles rather than possible Cabinet portfolios motivated its negotiations with Begin.
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