Finance Minister Yigal Hurwitz submitted his resignation today at the end of a stormy seven-hour Cabinet meeting at which a majority of his colleagues voted in favor of negotiating the pay raise for teachers he adamantly opposed. Under low, Hurwitz’s resignation takes effect in 48 hours. He is expected to leave the government Tuesday with his three-man Rafi faction.
The Cabinet will reconvene in special session tomorrow to decide whether Premier Menachem Begin’s coalition will try to remain in office under its reduced circumstances or resign and call for early elections. The consensus among Likud ministers and Knesset members is that resignation is almost inevitable.
But Education Minister Zevulun Hammer, who supported the teachers’ raise, insisted that the formula adopted by the Cabinet left room for compromise and said his National Religious Party would not support a move toward early elections. Begin was reportedly negotiating with the three-man Ahva faction to join the government, replacing Hurwitz’s group.
FORMULA ON TEACHERS’ PAY
Cabinet Secretary Arye Naor said after the meeting that the formula worked out by the Cabinet and proposed by Begin was approved by II ministers. Only two, Deputy Premier Yigael Yadin and Minister of Social Betterment Israel Katz backed Hurwitz.
Under the formula, the government accepted “in principle” the recommendations of the Etzioni Commission to bring teachers’ pay in line with that of other professional groups. It authorized the Finance and Education ministers to negotiate with the teachers’ unions over the “detailed recommendations, their scope, timing and phases of implementation, taking into consideration existing labor agreements and the national economy.”
The latter qualifications were seized upon by Hammer to support his contention that compromise was possible and therefore Hurwitz need not have resigned. But the Finance Minister told reporters after the Cabinet session that the proposed formula was “too watery” because it did not foreclose the possibility of straying beyond the limits of existing labor contracts for fiscal year 1980-81 which cover the entire economy.
Hurwitz said he had demanded language that would have specifically forbidden the minsterial negotiators from offering anything that would exceed the present wage guidelines and that would have made it clear that any benefits for teachers would be paid only after April, 1982.
Hurwitz confirmed to reporters that he expected Rafi to leave the coalition and to run in the next elections as an independent faction. Hurwitz opposed the teachers’ raise on grounds that it would trigger new pay demands in other sectors, precipitating the collapse of his efforts to contain runaway inflation. He expressed hope that his successor would be able to maintain the present wage agreements but admitted that it would be a very difficult job.
AN AGONIZING DECISION
For Begin and his Likud faction, the decision whether to cling to office or risk early elections appears to be an agonizing one. Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon and Absorption Minister David Levy are expected to oppose resignation.
At a meeting of Likud ministers before today’s Cabinet session, Sharon argued that the government’s task is not completed with respect to settlements on the West Bank and the autonomy negotiations with Egypt. Levy urged Begin to make every effort to bring the Ahva faction, a break-away of the Democratic Movement, into his government.
But Justice Minister Moshe Nissim, a staunch Likud loyalist, said on an Army Radio interview tonight that “it can be assumed” that Begin will call for early elections. Haim Corfu, the coalition Whip, and Haim Kaufman, chairman of the Herut Knesset faction both said tonight that it was possible for the government to remain in office even with the loss of Rafi. But Kaufman seemed to be hinting that this was not likely when he said, “We aren’t afraid of new elections. We have lots of successes on our record and we will remind the public of the legacy we inherited from Labor.”
Other sources “close to the Prime Minister” told Israel Radio last night that Begin was determined to “go to the President” (resign) if either Hurwitz or Hammer resigned in the teachers pay dispute. The sources said he was not prepared to continue governing on the basis of a Knesset majority that depended on a few independent MKs and splinter factions.
OTHER RESIGNATIONS SEEN
Moreover, Hurwitz’s departure was believed by some observers likely to be followed by the resignations of Yadin and Katz, removing the Democratic Movement from the coalition. Energy Minister Yitzhak Modai, a powerful figure in Likud’s Liberal Party wing, urged last week that the government resign because, he claimed, it has lost its decision-making ability. Some circles believe he may follow Hurwitz out of the crumbling coalition.
Begin was said to prefer to resign honorably rather than be defeated in a Knesset no-confidence motion. The government barely warded off such a defeat in November on the issue of inflation. But he is likely to come under pressure from the NRP to stick it out. The religious party is seen as vulnerable in early elections because of charges pending against two of its ministers. Religious Affairs Minister Aharon Abu-Hatzeira has been indicted for bribe-taking and interior Minister Yosef Burg has been accused of trying to quash a police investigation of alleged financial irregularities within his ministry.
Should Begin resign, the next fight looming in the Knesset will be over the date for new elections.
The Labor Party has already presented a bill for the Knesset debate Wednesday calling for elections to be held at the end of April, the earliest possible time. Under law, elections can be held not less than 100 days after a government resigns.
But Begin is expected to insist on elections not before the end of May or early June. His term of office does not expire until next November. Neither Labor nor Likud are said to want a prolonged transition regime. But Labor is anxious to go to the polls as soon as possible in view of public opinion surveys that show it would win by a landslide.
Likud members were noting today that even if early elections are held, Begin’s regime will have been in office for a full four years. Likud defeated Labor in May, 1977. Ironically, if Likud loses the next elections it will be on economic issues, the same that are believed responsible for Labor’s downfall. The irony would be compounded by the fact that Begin personally selected Hurwitz to take over the Treasury portfolio from Simcha Ehrlich in November, 1979 in order to wage a more effective war on inflation.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
