Likud Knesset members comprising Herut, Liberal Party and La’am, held a stormy meeting here Tuesday night to assess the state of their coalition in the wake of Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan’s harsh criticism earlier in the day of the government coalition and the Cabinet in which he blamed both for creating an image of Israel abroad as “dying economically.”
The Likud members took the opportunity to conduct a searing critique of the government for acting without consulting the Likud Knesset faction, for the lack of contact between the Cabinet and the faction and for the ineffectual way in which the government has been functioning of late.
Most speakers at the meeting confirmed Dayan’s assessment that the government seemed to be paralyzed, especially in the economic field which he had described as chaotic. Even Herut Knesset Whip Chaim Kaufman said the government was facing an unprecedented crisis. La’am Knesset member Yitzhak Peretz suggested that Premier Menachem Begin resign and form a new Cabinet.
The meeting ended with the adoption of a resolution calling on Begin and Likud ministers to convene in two weeks and bring to that meeting a detailed plan to improve the situation. The stormy nature of the meeting and the self-critical statements were made, according to some of those in attendance, because most of the Likud Cabinet ministers were not present, nor was Begin. He was at home convalescing.
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