Weizman Threa Tening Resignation

Defense Minister Ezer Weizman is reported today to have threatened to resign from the government and premier Menachem Begin is said to have told him he would accept his resignation but not at this time. The issue is the controversial Gush Emunim settlement of Alon Moreh near Nablus on the West Bank which the government claims is necessary for security purposes. Weizman was one of the Cabinet minority who opposed the settlement and questioned its security value. Nevertheless, he did nothing to alter a letter signed by Chief of Staff Gen. Raphael Eytan at Begin’s request, claiming that Alon Moreh was vital for defense because it controlled communications in northern Samaria. The letter was submitted to the Supreme Court which ordered the temporary suspension of work on Alon Moreh yesterday pending the outcome of an appeal by local Arabs whose land was seized for the settlement.

According to unconfirmed reports today, Weizman met with Begin Sunday to express his unhappiness with the present state of affairs and told him he was considering resignation. Begin reportedly said he had full confidence in Weizman as Defense Minister but told him “I would accept your resignation if it were handed to me a year from now.”

Meanwhile, both Weizman and Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan absented themselves from yesterday’s meeting of the six-man ministerial delegation conducting autonomy talks with Egypt and the U.S. The talks are expected to resume next week. Earlier, Weizman and Dayan indicated that they felt their presence was not required at the negotiations, a position that imitated the delegation’s chairman, interior Minister Yosef Burg. Burg complained to Begin who promised to air the matter when the Cabinet meets again this Sunday.