A no-confidence motion against the Rabin government for alleged Sabbath desecration snowballed today into an all out attempt by opposition factions in the Knesset to unseat the Labor Alignment coalition a full year before the national elections. The attempt came dangerously close to succeeding.
The motion was defeated 55-48 with nine abstentions but only after government forces frantically rounded up every available Alignment MK to vote against it. Defense Minister Shimon Peres and Housing Minister Avraham Ofer, who had only just landed at Ben Gurion Airport from trips abroad, were rushed to the Knesset by helicopter.
The motion. presented by Kalman Kahane of the Orthodox Aguda bloc, stemmed from an official ceremony last Friday marking the arrival of the first three of 25 F-15 Eagle jet interceptors Israel has purchased from the U.S. The planes landed at an air base 47 minutes before the Sabbath. It was well after dark before the 3000 invited guests and dignitaries left the base in cars and this raised an outcry in religious circles.
Premier Yitzhak Rabin flatly rejected the desecration charge in the Knesset. But the government’s position was complicated by the decision of the National Religious Party to abstain in the no-confidence vote, an almost unprecedented stance for a coalition partner. Only Interior Minister Yosef Burg defected from his colleagues at the last minute and voted against the motion.
PRETEXT FOR OPPOSITION ASSAULT
It was clear, however, that the Sabbath issue was only a pretext for a mass opposition assault on the government. Apart from Likud which often votes with the religious bloc, the no-confidence motion was supported by the vigorously secular Civil Rights Party and the Communists, factions that are bitter foes of religious zealotry. Shmuel. Tamir, of the Free Center faction said that any occasion was a proper one to vote against the government. Independent MK Arieh Eliav said the Knesset demonstration proved how many people had no confidence in the Rabin regime.
Opposition speakers also criticized the government for making a public spectacle of the arrival of the F-15s. Likud MK Avraham Katz charged that a “weak government tried to steal the hearts of the people with toys.” Kahane of the Aguda criticized the ceremony arranged at tax-payer as’ expense. Tufik Tubi, an Arab MK of the New Communist faction agreed with Rabin that there was no desecration of the Sabbath but accused the government of desecrating peace by purchasing the F-15s.
But Rabbi Menachem Cohen of the Labor Alignment defended the government and warned against exploiting the Sabbath for political purposes. Independent MK Binyamin Halevi charged that the no-confidence motion used God’s name in wrath.
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.
