Dmc’s Days Are Numbered

The Democratic Movement for Change (DMC), the party founded two years ago by Deputy Premier Yigael Yadin, is likely to be disbanded Thursday, according to statements made yesterday and Sunday by Yadin and his chief opponent within the DMC, Prof. Amnon Rubinstein.

Yadin, who had established the party in an effort to bring about changes within the government and a new era of social welfare, said Monday night that he would continue to serve in his official capacity, but that the DMC’s days were numbered. He recalled the frequent personal crises that had overcome the DMC in the past, resulting in the party’s inability to make its influence felt in Israeli political life.

The DMC has emerged as the third largest political group in Israel, superceded only by the Likud and the Labor Alignment. But Rubinstein also acknowledged recently that the Agudath Israel Party, with its five Knesset seats, is far more capable of influencing government decisions than is the DMC, which has 15 Knesset members and four ministers in the government.

The internal disintegration of the DMC became evident last week when Yadin’s proposal, that the party should elect its institutions before it holds an ideological discussion, was defeated in the DMC’s governing council by a vote of 58-57. Yadin’s defeat was viewed by many observers here as a vote of no-confidence in his leadership, and as a victory for Rubinstein, the head of the Shinui group in the DMC which advocates the party’s withdrawal from the government.

THURSDAY MAY BE THE FATEFUL DAY

In the wake of the council vote, Yadin, who claims that he is the only elected party official, insisted that the council be reconvened Thursday in order to elect the movement’s institutions without which he claims the party cannot function. He also said that he would consider those party members who do not attend this meeting as “dissidents.”

Rubinstein, on the other hand, argued that Yadin, in calling another meeting of the council, was acting in defiance of last week’s vote and of the movement’s regulations. He said that Yadin and his supporters have declared themselves “dissidents” by calling this “illegal” meeting and that the council could not be convened in the name of the DMC.

The fate of the party, which is now split into two nearly equal camps, will be decided by the DMC faction headed by Transport Minister Meir Amit. Although Amit joined Rubinstein and his supporters in last week’s vote against Yadin, he has made no statement to date of his intentions with regard to the upcoming Thursday meeting. Amit recommended that no further action be taken by the party until after the Camp David summit Sept. 5, but Yadin has decided to resolve the issue immediately.