Rabin Under Pressure to Hold Debate on West Bank Settlements

Premier Yitzhak Rabin is under mounting pressure from within his own party to hold the long postponed Cabinet debate over Jewish settlements on the West Bank. The debate, when it occurs will determine the fate of the controversial Gush Emunim encampment outside the Kadum army base in the Samaria region. In the process, it could destroy Rabin’s coalition with the National Religious Party and possibly prove fatal to the Labor Alignment which is sharply divided on the issue.

The matter is not on the agenda of today’s Cabinet meeting. But it is clear that the “doves” will not tolerate further delay. Yesterday, Justice Minister Haim Zadok blasted the Gush Emunim’s April 18-19 march through the West Bank which touched off violent disturbances in Arab towns and in East Jerusalem.

Addressing a symposium at the Labor Party’s Isasisgical center at Beit Beri, Zador said the decision to allow the illegal Gush settlers to remain at Kadum was a “grave mistake.” He denounced the Gush Emunim (Faith Bloc) as a band of “religious zealots and extreme nationalists” who pose a danger to democracy in Israel because they “do not see themselves bound by the rules of the game within a democratic society.”

Zadok declared that the Gush squatters should have been removed from Samaria by force if necessary when they first established themselves there last November. They should be evicted now, he said.

ALLON POSTPONES U.S. VISIT

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry today confirmed a report that Foreign Minister Yigal Allon has postponed his trip to the U.S. next week where he was to address major fund-raising gatherings and meet with Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and other Administration and Congressional leaders. According to political circles, Allon’s main reason for postponing his American trip was “his desire to participate in the Kadum debate”. He does not want to hold political talks in Washington before this controversial issue is settled by the government, the circles said.

Allon’s decision in effect served notice on Rabin that he wants the debate held promptly. Allon has spoken out several times in favor of removing the Gush from the West Bank. He and other “doves” maintain that the compromise allowing a limited number of them to remain at Kadum under army protection was never brought up before the full Cabinet.

NRP ISSUES THREATS

Defense Minister Shimon Peres, who arranged the compromise, has made no secret of his support of the Gush demands for free Jewish settlement on the West Bank. Peres is backed on this issue by Police Minister Shlomo Hillel and Transport Minister Gad Yaacobi. The most vigorous Cabinet support for the Gush comes from Welfare Minister Zevulun Hammer, a leader of the NRP’s “young guard” who has threatened to resign if the Cabinet decides to evict the Kadum settlers. Under Hammer’s pressure, the more moderate NRP ministers, Yosef Burg and Yitzhak Raphael, have made similar threats.

Labor Party, Mapam and Independent Liberal Party “doves” who are just as vigorously opposed to the Kadum settlement, observe that political “blackmail” by the NRP is nothing new in the history of government coalitions with the Orthodox faction. They believe that in a showdown, the veteran NRP ministers will find a formula that will permit them to remain in the Cabinet.

The outcome of the debate is likely to hinge on such middle-of-the-road Labor ministers as Aharon Yadlin, Moshe Baram, Yehoshua Rabinowitz and Aharon Uzan. They are newcomers to the Cabinet and have the strongest interest in the survival of the Rabin government. They are expected to take their cue from the Premier himself and not oppose his declared position.

RABIN SEEN AS EQUIVOCATING

So far, however, Rabin has not stated his position unequivocally. On one hand, he has publicly condemned the Gush Emunim for defying government authority. On the other, he has reiterated that the Jordan River must remain Israel’s permanent security border in the east. This presupposes a chain of Jewish settlements on the West Bank.

The government has, in fact penocouraged settlements in the sparsely populated Jordan valley and presumably would offer the Gush alternative sites there or on the Golan Heights. The Gush and their supporters claim that the entire West Bank must be open to Jewish settlement if it is to remain secure.

Rabin promised a debate on the matter this month. But with the month almost over he has failed to schedule one. The reasons given for the delay were the West Bank elections, held April 12 and the widespread disturbances on the West Bank last week. Meanwhile, the Gush squatters at Kadum have become more firmly entrenched. Since January the government has borrowed mobile homes from the Jewish Agency to house the group and a good deal of earthwork has been done to improve their living conditions.

Whenever the Cabinet debate is held it will be affected by considerations beyond Israeli politics. The U.S. government has made clear its unhappiness over Jewish settlement in the occupied Arab territories. That position was stated bluntly in the Security Council last month by U.S. Ambassador William Scranton.

Doveish elements cite the West Bank turbulence and Washington’s disapproval as major reasons why the government should put an end to illegal settlements. Hawks, on the other hand, cite the very same considerations to back their hard-line policy of increased Jewish settlements in the territories.