A blast by Ariel Sharon against Premier Shimon Peres may lead to a showdown confrontation in the next few days that could destroy the fragile Labor-Likud unity coalition government.
Key Labor sources said tonight that relations between the coalition partners reached a state of crisis as the result of a speech by Sharon to Herut colleagues in Haifa last night in which he attacked Peres in language usually heard only in the heat of an election campaign. Peres has asked Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, the Likud leader, to meet with him tomorrow morning to discuss Sharon’s speech.
Labor sources said they would vigorously urge the Premier to demand that Shamir fire Sharon who is Minister of Commerce and Industry in the coalition cabinet. Normally, a Premier is empowered to dismiss any cabinet minister. But under the coalition agreement, Peres and Shamir each waived the right to exercise that power with respect to a member of the other’s party.
Likud leaders made it clear tonight that if Peres removes Sharon, Likud would regard it as a caususbelli. One Likud MK, Haim Kaufman, said “at issue is a profound ideological and political dispute, not any personal feud between individuals.”
Sharon, a former Defense Minister and the most outspoken hawk in the government, accused Peres of “contempt for all democratic methods” and charged he was leading “the government by the nose on a twisted path.”
He was obviously referring to Peres’ discreet diplomacy aimed at direct negotiations with a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, preceded if necessary by some form of international conference.
King Hussein of Jordan insists on an international forum. Israel initially rejected the idea but Peres has been flexible on the matter in recent weeks, indicating Israel would agree if the conference resulted in direct peace talks with Jordan and the Palestinians.
Likud is on the record as totally apposed to that approach but the matter has yet to be debated by the Cabinet. Sharon, in his speech, called Peres’ policy “weak” and accused him of “shameless” behavior. He charged that the Premier” lacks any self-respect” and his policy would lead to war and bloodshed.
LABOR ENRAGED BY SHARON’S REMARKS
Political sources in the Knesset said today that Labor is genuinely enraged by Sharon’s remarks and many in the party feel that if Peres takes Sharon’s assault “lying down,” his public image would suffer. Labor sources recalled that the Cabinet decided last August 25 that any minister who publicly criticizes a Prime Minister must resign.
As of tonight Peres has not replied directly to Sharon. But he said during a visit to the Negev town of Arad that the Likud minister’s statements were intolerable, not only in the framework of the national unity government but in any democratic framework. He said he would issue a more active response “later.”
Energy Minister Moshe Shahal, a Laborite, said tonight it was Shamir’s public duty to condemn Sharon. He suggested that Sharon’s intention was not to attack Peres but to maneuver to unseat Shamir as Likud leader, thereby preventing him from becoming Premier when Peres turns the office of Prime Minister over to Likud next summer under the terms of the coalition agreement.
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