Premier Menachem Begin delivered one of his toughest speeches at the opening of the Herut party’s 14th national convention here last night, fervently defending Jewish settlement on the occupied West Bank as a “right” and “duty,” declaring total war against the Palestine Liberation Organization and warning President Anwar Sadat of Egypt to refrain from criticizing Jewish settlements or talking about the division of Jerusalem.
Begin’s hard-line want well with his audience of 3000 Herut loyalists who cheered and stamped in the Jerusalem Convention Hall. “Settlement is a right and a duty. We have and will continue to fulfill that right and that duty,” the Premier declared. He fiercely ruled out any notion of a Palestinian state or divided sovereignty over Jerusalem.
Referring to warnings that Israel’s aggressive settlement policies undermine Sodat at a time when he is being attacked by the Arab rejectionist states, Begin asserted, “We do not need anyone to preach to us about the delicate position of President Sadat vis-a-vis the Arab world. We certainly appreciate his courage and are ready to help him as much as we can, as I am sure he is ready to help us. But no one has yet helped his friends by committing suicide and this we will not do,” Begin said.
Addressing himself to the PLO, the Premier vowed that “there will no longer be a policy of retaliation against the heinous terrorists who find refuge in Lebanon. We will pursue and hit him at any opportunity. We will not wait for blood baths such as those which occurred in Nahariya and Tiberias. We are no longer defenseless and on foreign land. He who raises a hand against a Jewish child will not be safe in Beirut or anywhere else.”
Begin expressed hope for a de jure peace with Jordan. But he called President Hafez Assad of Syria the victim of “a mad and devouring enmity.” He said that normalization between Egypt and Israel “was developing satisfactorily.” He said that if the United Nations removes the presence of the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in Sinai to police the implementation of the Israeli-Egyptian treaty, another multinational force would be formed for the task. He said Israel, Egypt and the U.S. have agreed on that matter.
CATCALLS FOR EHRLICH
The balance of Begin’s speech dealt with Israel’s deteriorating economic situation. He warned Herut “If we do not put things right the voters will blame us.” Finance Minister Simcha Ehrlich, head of Likud’s Liberal Party wing, who was a guest on the podium was greeted with catcalls from the audience which tended to blame his stewardship over the Treasury for the country’s economic woes. Visibly dismayed by the hostile reception, Ehrlich stumbled through his speech. He avoided any mention of economic matters but warned his Likud partners that “we need unity because the (Labor) Alignment is waiting in ambush for us.”
Resounding cheers greeted the speech of Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren who declared that the West Bank and Gaza Strip belonged to Israel because of their Biblical associations. The platform was also shared by President Yitzhak Navon and Leon Dulzin, chairman of the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency Executives, who is a leader of the Liberal Party.
Despite the militancy of Begin and other Herut stalwarts, the convention opening lacked much of the luster that has characterized previous Herut gatherings. For one thing, die-hard MK Geula Cohen and other dissenters who oppose the peace treaty with Egypt absented themselves. In addition, there was an evidently self-imposed decorum in keeping with Herut’s new position as the senior partner of the governing coalition.
The convention moved to Tel Aviv today where it will continue in session until Thursday, dealing mainly with party matters. The first order of business is the election of a chairman of the party’s steering committee. A power struggle has already emerged between Defense Minister Ezer Weizman and Absorption Minister David Levy on one hand and party members Eitan Livni and Michael Dekel on the other to install the nominees of their choice.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
