Leaders of the embattled Israel Labor Party hammered out an “armistice” with its rebellious Rafi faction at a meeting which began Saturday night and continued into the early hours of Sunday. As a result, there will be no split by Rafi from the party ranks, barring unforeseen difficulties, well informed sources said today.
Participants in the meeting included Premier Golda Meir, Foreign Minister Abba Eban, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, leader of Rafi, and Minister-Without-Portfolio Israel Galili who heads the government’s information services. The agreement they worked out appeared to partly satisfy Rafi demands for more independence and greater representation in the party councils.
It was agreed that Gen. Dayan would retain the portfolio of Defense Minister in the new government to be formed after the October elections. In addition, Rafi will be given another ministerial post, not counting the Labor Ministry currently held by Rafi member Yosef Almogi. Rafi was also assured of proportional representation in the party’s various bodies on an equal basis with the Achdut Avodah faction.
NEW PLATFORM SKIRTS DAYAN’S POLICY DEMANDS ON RULE OF OCCUPIED AREAS
The major points of contention between the Rafi faction and the Labor Party leadership concerned future policies in the occupied Arab territories and future boundaries. In these areas Gen. Dayan’s view of what should appear in the Party platform clashed with the views of Deputy Premier Yigal Allon, Foreign Minister Abba Eban and party secretary-general Pinhas Sapir. The agreement worked out today generally rejected Mr. Dayan’s proposals. But the party’s policy was couched in terms vague enough to permit their acceptance by all factions.
On the question of the occupied territories, the party stated that “permanent settlement” should be hastened and the government, when deciding in sites for settlement, should be guided by the security needs of the State. The term “permanent” is opposed by Mapam, the left-wing labor faction which has joined in a political alignment with the Labor Party. But in as much as the platform does not refer specifically to the occupied territories, it is assumed Mapam will accept the plank. Mr. Galili and Israel Barzilai, Minister of Health and the Mapam leader, were scheduled to meet today on the subject.
Gen. Dayan’s suggestion that Israeli law be applied to the occupied territories, was turned down. Instead the platform will read, “In every matter in which it might be required for security reasons, for economic reasons or for social improvement, the existing laws (in the occupied areas) may be amended or replaced by orders issued by the (military) governors.”
Likewise, Gen. Dayan’s advocacy of the economic integration of the occupied territories with Israel, was rejected. The platform will say that the government should be empowered to coordinate, integrate, unify or merge the basic economic networks of Israel and the occupied territories in accordance with the requirements of the various regions. It also was agreed to continue the policy of employing Arabs from the occupied areas in Israel through the local labor exchanges. Gen. Dayan’s policy of maintaining “open bridges”–freedom of movement by West Bank residents to and from Jordan–was accepted.
SPECIFIC TERRITORIAL DEMANDS ARE RULED OUT IN AGREED PLATFORM PLANK
The subject of boundaries was limited in the platform to “agreed, secure and recognized” borders. There was no reference to the specific geographical limits which Gen. Dayan had defined in his proposed “unwritten” or oral platform plank.
Prior to yesterday’s meeting, Deputy Premier Allon predicted that the wording of the platform would be such that all elements would be able to subscribe to it. He added, “if there is no split over the platform, there will not be a split over anything else.”
On Friday night, Gen. Dayan told an audience of newsmen at the opening of the new Journalists House in Jerusalem that “even if I were to leave the party, I would not join another group whose leaders claim that the government which I serve had suffered moral deterioration.” He referred to charges by former Premier David-Ben-Gurion, founder of the Rafi faction, who is preparing to enter a separate Rafi list in the October elections.
Gen. Dayan said he saw no contradiction between a stand on future strategic and security boundaries and calling for negotiations with the Arabs without “prior conditions.” He said it was “inconceivable” that two years after the 1967 war, Israel should leave it to the Arabs to fix future boundaries.” Foreign Minister Eban had taken strong exception to Gen. Dayan’s proposal that the party platform, at least orally, call for Israel’s permanent retention of the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, Sharm el-Sheikh and a contiguous section of the Sinai Peninsula and part of the West Bank.
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