Yitzhak Rabin said following his election as the Labor Party’s new leader tonight that he would try to form a new Labor-led coalition along the same lines as the outgoing one–a partnership of the Labor Alignment with the National Religious Party and the Independent Liberal Party.
Rabin’s selection opened the way for President Ephraim Katzir to assign him the task of forming a new government to replace the care-taker regime that has remained in office since Mrs. Golda Meir resigned the Premiership two weeks ago. Should he succeed, Rabin’s Cabinet is expected to differ considerably from the outgoing one and to include new and younger faces. Two prominent ministers not expected to be included are Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and Foreign Minister Abba Eban.
Rabin, who was born in Jerusalem, would be Israel’s first native born Premier. His selection to head the Labor Party had been expected since his candidacy was forcefully supported by party strongman Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir. But his 298-254 victory margin over Information Minister Shimon Peres in the secret balloting was by a narrow eight percent.
The big surprise tonight was the extent of Peres’ popularity within the party. Although he was assured the support of the ex-Raft faction. Raft comprises less than 20 percent of the Central Committee membership. Peres’ strong showing stemmed from support he rallied from the former Mapai faction. Peres said afterwards that while he did not win the leadership, he regarded himself part of the victorious camp. Labor Party Secretary General Aharon Yadlin said the result of the vote tonight weakened party divisions. He predicted that Mapam. Labor’s Alignment partner. would give its blessing to Rabin’s selection.
Rabin said it would be difficult to follow in the footsteps of Golda Meir who was the symbol of Israel’s founding generation. But he observed that the time had come for the sons of the founders to take over. He said the party election which elevated him to its leadership stemmed from a parliamentary crisis but was not a sign of weakness in the State. In a democratic state, Rabin noted, it is possible to emerge from a crisis and rise again. Democratic elections are a sign of the party’s strength, he declared.
WEIZMAN REBUKED FOR ATTACKING RABIN
About 24 hours before his selection, Rabin came under attack from Gen. Ezer Weizman of Likud who claimed that Rabin had suffered a nervous breakdown while Chief of Staff on the eve of the 1967 Six-Day War and was incapable of making decisions thereafter. The charge by Weizman, a former Air Force commander, set off political reverberations in Israel, brought a prompt reply from Rabin and a sharp rebuke to Weizman from Likud leader Gen. Ariel Sharon.
Rabin responded to Weizman’s charges in a statement this morning in which he said: “Without going into the motives of those who found it appropriate to make public an old story as it was seen by one man. I confirm that I was absent from my post as Chief of Staff for one day–from May 23 evening to May 25 morning. On May 23 evening I called in Weizman and asked him to step in so I can have some rest after the exhausting work of preparing for war. On May 25 morning I returned to command the army and conduct its activities on the eve and through the Six-Day War to the victory.”
Sharon, angrily rebuked Weizman. “I am against using unfounded charges to disqualify personalities. It is better that those who abuse would look into their own behavior in times of crisis and they may be surprised to see how they behaved themselves.” he said. Sharon, a hero of the Yom Kippur War, added. “The army that won the Six-Day War was the army constructed by Rabin, prepared by Rabin for war and led by Rabin to victory.”
WEIZMAN’S VERSION OF THE EVENTS
According to Weizman’s version, he was summoned to Rabin’s home about 10 days before the war broke out and urged by Rabin to take over as Chief of Staff because Rabin felt he was incapable of handling the burden and believed that. in any event, the war would be decided in the air which was Weizman’s area of expertise. Weizman claimed he was summoned to Rabin’s home on the following days and met there by the armed forces chief medical officer. Dr. Eliyahu Gillon. who said Rabin was suffering from acute anxiety and was being treated with tranquilizers.
Weizman said he had refused Rabin’s request to take over command on grounds that the Chief of Staffs resignation at that time would have been a victory for the Arabs and had a demoralizing effect on Israel’s armed forces. But he claimed that after hearing the medical report he agreed to issue orders to the armed forces without confirmation by Rabin. Rabin returned to his office the next day but lacked the power of decision throughout the brief war, Weizman claimed.
His story brought charges of “character assassination” and “distortion” from some military and political quarters. The Histadrut daily, Day? r, which reflects Labor Party opinion, said editorially today that Rabin had to answer the charges but cautioned the public not to draw conclusions “before the whole story is heard.” (By Yitzhak Shargil)
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