The government defended its policies on the West Bank today against motions of no-confidence in the Knesset by the Labor Alignment and other opposition factions Defense Minister Ariel Sharon claimed, “The day is not for when quiet will return to Judaea and Samaria.”
The no-confidence motions were triggered by the escalation of violence on the West Bank this past week following the removal of the elected mayor and town council of El Bireh for refusing to cooperate with the civilian regime Sharon set up in the territory last year.
Sharon said the government was carrying out a basic policy decision made a year ago to encourage “moderate elements” on the West Bank while hitting hard at “pro-Palestine Liberation Organization” elements. Ibrahim Towil, the ousted mayor of El Bireh, and most other West Bank mayors are considered by the government to be conduits of PLO influence in the territory.
Sharon, in a speech frequently interrupted by opposition heckling, said, “It is not possible to implement any plan, our autonomy plan or any other plan as long as the PLO rules on the West Bank.” He claimed that “This is the struggle for Eretz Israel” and that the government has “surprised” the opposition by acting in time.
CLASH BETWEEN SHARON AND PERES
The debate was enlivened by an angry personal clash between Sharon and Labor Party chairman Shimon Peres. The Defense Minister accused Labor of “responsibility for the rise to power of the PLO” on the West Bank because it allowed free municipal elections there in 1976. The elections brought to office a younger generation of mayors who are staunch Palestinian nationalists.
Peres called Sharon’s charge “incitement and demagogy.” He said the Defense Minister was distorting history to mislead the public. He noted that candidates who were PLO members were barred from running for office in the 1976 elections.
But obviously, people who sympathized with Palestinian nationalism could not have been excluded then, no more than they could be excluded if the present government succeeds in holding elections for self-governing authorities under its autonomy plan, Peres said.
Sharon accused the Labor-led government of acting more harshly toward the West Bank Arabs between 1967-1977 than the Likud government has during its five years in office. Macam MK Victor Shemtov reminded Sharon that he had served as Labor Premier Yitzhak Rabin’s security advisor in 1976 and as such shared responsibility for the government’s policies.
Peres, in a low key speech, criticized the government for its West Bank policy, for “unnecessary collective punishment against the Golan Druze,” for worsening relations with the U.S. and for using American loan money to buy votes.
No-confidence motions were also submitted by the Shinui faction and the Hadash (Communist) Party. Amnon Rubinstein of Shinui traded barbs with Premier Menachem Begin and Justice Minister Moshe Nissim over the legality of cordoning off Druze villages on the Golan Heights because the Druze refused to accept Israeli identity cards.
Begin, still not fully recovered from the hip injury he suffered last December, entered and left the chamber supported by a cone.
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.
