The Labor Alignment urged President Ephraim Katzir today to allow the present government of Premier Yitzhak Rabin to continue as a caretaker government until an early election is held. But the Alignment said that if Katzir decides to name someone to try to find a majority in the Knesset to head a new government it should be Rabin.
The Alignment position was presented by a delegation headed by Labor Minister Moshe Baram who met with Katzir as he began consultations with the various political parties. He was scheduled to meet this afternoon with the opposition Likud which is expected to urge that he name its leader, Menachem Beigin, to try to from a new government. Katzir is scheduled to meet with the National Religious Party and the Torah Front tomorrow and complete his consultations this week. If he names someone to form a government it must be done in a mandatory 21-day period.
However, all this may be academic, The Knesset is expected to dissolve itself this week and schedule a new election. Both the Alignment and Likud are expected to introduce bills to this effect, the only difference being that the government wants the election to take place May 31 and Likud wants it May 3. The two groups are scheduled to meet tomorrow to seek a compromise, probably May 17.
If the election is scheduled, all steps to form a new government are automatically halted and the present government continues in a caretaker role until after the election.
GEARING FOR THE CAMPAIGN
Meanwhile, Israel’s political parties are gearing for the upcoming campaign while the Labor Alignment appears to be heading for a battle over who should lead it. Rabin or Defense Minister Shimon Peres. Peres has not made an official declaration of his candidacy but he did announce his intentions to Labor Party leaders over the weekend. He said that unless the present setup is changed. Labor will lose 15 seats and he felt that if he was at the helm, this deterioration could be stopped.
The Defense Minister revealed that he had rejected an offer, reportedly from Beigin, that he become Premier of an alternative government. “If I wanted it, I could have been Premier now.” he told Labor leaders.
Peres also asked Meir Talmi, secretary general of Mapam, whether he would oppose him as Premier. Talmi gave an evasive answer saying that Mapam has not adopted a resolution on Peres and Mapam makes every effort to remain out of Labor Party power struggles. However, many members of Mapam have said they could not accept Peres as Premier. Mapam itself is scheduled to decide whether to pull out of the Labor Alignment as many of its younger members want.
RABIN CONFIDENT OF LEADING LABOR PARTY
Rabin, meanwhile, appears to be confident that he will continue to head the Labor Party. In an interview Friday, he stressed that if he is named Premier again “there is no doubt that I consider Shimon Peres as one of the senior members in my next Cabinet.”
Rabin had top leaders of the Labor Party at his home yesterday to plan organization and strategy for the election. Among them were Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, Finance Minister Yehoshua Rabinowitz, Israel Galili, and Peres. The Defense Minister said nothing of his challenge to Rabin at the meeting. Also present was former Premier Golda Meir, whose presence was seen as lending her moral support to Rabin.
The announcement by former Foreign Minister Abba Eban that he is a candidate for the Premiership is expected to help Peres since Eban would presumably take away votes from Rabin. Rabin is expected to ask for an early decision by the Labor’s central committee, the group that named him Premier originally, Peres is expected to press for a decision by the Labor Party convention, a much larger group.
BEIGIN CHALLENGES RABIN TO TV DEBATE
Beigin, meanwhile, spoke to the Liberal Workers Union of the Histadrut last week and challenged Rabin to face him in a televised debate. He said they should discuss the strategic diplomatic front and the internal moral and social problems. Beigin pledged to wipe out poverty. The Likud leader noted that there are many new candidates for the post of Premier and “when I look at all the other candidates for the post of Premier I have no inferiority complex.”
Rabin and NRP leader Yitzhak Rafael, in interviews in Yediot Achronot Friday, both said that the present government crisis does not mean that the NRP will not be a coalition partner of the Labor Alignment in a future government. The present crisis arose when Rabin expelled the three NRP ministers, including Rafael who was Minister of Religious Affairs, from the Cabinet.
But Rafael said that when the NRP returns to the government its demands will be more rigid. He said Rabin will be sorry for what he did and blamed Justice Minister Haim Zadok for advising Rabin to oust the NRP.
Meanwhile, Rafael is coming under attack from former Interior Minister Yosef Burg and the younger members of the NRP who want to undermine the position of Rafael’s faction in the NRP. Younger members of the Independent Liberal Party are also criticizing the leadership of its traditional leaders. Tourism Minister Moshe Kol and Minister-Without-Portfolio Gideon Hausner. Some of the young ILP members are threatening to accept the proposal of Prof. Yigal Yadin to join his newly-formed Democratic. Movement.
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