The Likud-led coalition suffered an unexpected defeat when the Knesset voted 48-46 today in favor of an opposition motion to hold a full-scale debate on the government’s plans to expand the Jewish quarter in Hebron.
Deputy Premier David Levy, speaking for the government, urged the Knesset to drop the motions. He said plans to extend the Jewish quarter into what is presently an open air vegetable market would be carried out without moving any of the Arab vendors against their will. But Likud MK Dror Seigerman voted with the opposition and former Minister-Without-Portfolio Mordechal Ben-Porat, who has just resigned from the Cabinet, abstained.
An angry dispute broke out, meanwhile, between Labor Alignment dove Yossi Sarid and Geula Cohen, of the ultra-nationalist Tehiya Party over Jewish acts of violence against Arabs on t he West Bank that have gone unpunished.
Sarid maintained that the security authorities know who planted the bombs that maimed two Arab mayors in 1980 but are unable to prosecute the offenders for lack of evidence. He said evidence was lacking because of the non-cooperation of Jewish settlers in the territory and inadequate intelligence in the settlements.
Cohen accused Sarid of defaming the settlers. She said she did not believe Jews were involved in the bombings but added that if Jewish terrorists are found , they shou Id be brought to justice because they “are the enemy of settlements.”
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