The rival factions of Herut went to the peace table Monday to seek an agreement on power-sharing and possibly to reconvene Herut’s 15th convention which disintegrated in chaos two weeks ago.
The latest development followed a meeting Sunday between Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Housing Minister David Levy. It was their second get-together since the convention aborted and Shamir had to be escorted from the hall by police under taunts from Levy’s largely Sephardic supporters.
But passions apparently have calmed and the two men agreed to have their representatives meet to discuss issues over which they appeared earlier to be hopelessly divided. One of them is the proportion of representatives of each faction in the party’s institutions. The factions are headed by Shamir, Levy and Minister of Commerce and Industry Ariel Sharon, respectively.
Another matter on the agenda is Herut’s merger with the Liberal Party, its partner in Likud. Many Herut leaders object to a clause in the unification agreement that grants the Liberals an equal right to vote in party institutions. The Liberals insist on this to ensure their influence in the merged party. The Herut opposition, led by Sharon, maintains that a secure place on the party’s next Knesset list should be sufficient for the Liberals.
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