A rift between Premier Menachem Begin and Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon, which threatened a major Cabinet crisis, ended peacefully yesterday after Sharon apologized to Begin for having said last Friday that the Premier cannot decided issues simply on the basis of a majority versus a minority number of ministers. There are those ministers, Sharon said whose opinions are worth more than that of other ministers.
Begin, who turned pale at that remark, advised Sharon to remember that Israel is still a democracy and was not ruled according to George Orwell’s “Animal Form” in which a bureaucrat remarks that “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” Sharon refused to let Begin’s remark pass and retorted, “Don’t you dare talk to me in that fashion.” The verbal duel didn’t end there. Sharon went on television to complain that Begin is slandering ministers and is making decisions in a “facile and off-hand fashion.” The Premier, in turn, threatened to resign.
BACKGROUND OF CONFRONTATION
The verbal confirmation took place “against the background of an effort by Begin to reshuffle his Cabinet following the resignation of Ezer Weizman as Defense minister last May and the resignation of Shmuel Tamir of the Democratic Movement as Justice Minister. Begin has been acting as Defense Minister. Sharon said after Weizman resigned that he wanted that post but other ministers blocked his appointment because they opposed his hard-line views.
Begin himself has also been disinclined to approve Sharon for the Defense Ministry post. The Premier was quoted as having said when Sharon first indicated he wanted the Defense Minister he would encircle the Premier’s office with tanks: Sharon protested this remark and Begin said he had made this remark in jest Sharon, a here of the Yom Kippur War, complained bitterly about that remark, saying, “For almost 20 years I was entrusted with hundreds of tanks and tens of thousands of soldiers and no one thought I would use those tanks against anyone but Israel’s enemies.”
Begin’s threat to resign, which would then make President Yitzhak Navon invite him to try and form a new government with the chance of reshuffling the Cabinet and dropping certain ministers, did not meet with a favorable response on the part of other ministers. It was noted that even if Begin resigned and formed a new Cabinet Sharon would still have to be a member. Circles close to Begin said the Premier would prefer that Sharon resign, but agreed that chances for that are dim.
Actually, Begin has indicated he would prefer that the Agriculture Ministry post Sharon now holds go to Knesset member Michael Deke’, head of the Betar settlement movement. In addition, Begin has indicated he would like to have Foreign Minister Yitzhak Modai of the Liberal Party as Foreign Minister and Minister- Without-Portfolio Moshe Nissim of the Liberal Party as Justice Minister. Nissim was appointed as Justice Minister yesterday in place of Tamir. Sharon was the only minister to vote against his appointment.
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