The Knesset approved the government’s plan for Palestinian elections and self-rule Wednesday, and defeated two no-confidence motions on the issue.
But it was a tepid endorsement.
The 43-15 vote in the 120-member chamber reflected the absence of many in Likud, including senior ministers who oppose the initiative but were loathe to vote against the government.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, calling his plan “a fair, sincere and realistic proposal,” made an impassioned appeal for Knesset support.
He claimed that the U.S. government and congressional and public opinion in the United States gave it a “clear welcome” and that European governments have shown “interest and some support.”
According to Shamir, world Jewry was solidly supportive. He said rejection by various local Arab groups should not be construed as their “last word” and that rejection the Palestine Liberation Organization is of no consequence.
“We address ourselves not to the PLO, but to the local Palestinians,” Shamir said.
But at this juncture, the most serious obstacle to the prime minister’s ideas is the revolt brewing in Likud ministerial ranks.
It is led by Ariel Sharon, chairman of the Herut Central Committee; Yitzhak Moda’i, leader of Likud’s Liberal Party wing; and David Levy, the housing minister, who holds the rank of deputy premier and has a strong Sephardic constituency.
Of the three, Levy is abroad. Sharon and Moda’i absented themselves from the vote.
PROMISE OUTWEIGHS RISKS
They share the view of the far right-wing parties and the Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that the offer of elections and self-rule to the Palestinians in the territories is a recipe of disaster for Israel.
Sharon, who is minister of industry and trade, has announced he will convene the Central Committee next month to seek a grass-roots rejection of the plan.
Shamir conceded that the plan harbors risks for Israel, but he insisted that these were out-weighed by its promise.
He also argued that it was “premature” to embark on internal domestic disputes, “which only gladden the hearts of our enemies.”
He told the Knesset it is relatively easy to “take positions” when one does not have “the responsibility for Israel’s foreign relations on one’s shoulders.”
The plan was authored by Shamir and Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a Laborite, in close collaboration with Foreign Minister Moshe Arens of Likud and Vice Premier Shimon Peres, who chairs the Labor Party and serves as finance minister.
It is a bipartisan undertaking, but the two coalition partners do not see eye-to-eye on several key issues. These include the eligibility of East Jerusalem Arabs to vote, opposed by Likud but favored by many in Labor.
This and other areas of disagreement were skirted by the Cabinet on Sunday, when it voted 20-6 to approve the plan.
LESS SPECIFIC IN KNESSET SPEECH
Shamir told the Likud Knesset faction Wednesday that East Jerusalemites would not be allowed to vote and that Israel would decide who could vote and who could stand for election.
He also pledged there would be no elections, indeed not even preparations, as long as the Palestinian uprising continued.
But the prime minister was much less specific in his formal Knesset speech, which has the status of an official government document.
He made no reference to East Jerusalem eligibility, nor did he say categorically that the uprising must stop before the electoral process begins.
He promised only that there would be “no violence during the implementation” of the plan.
The purpose of the elections, according to the government, is to choose Palestinian delegates with whom Israel would negotiate over self-rule and, subsequently, on the final status of the administered territories.
While the government has repeatedly ruled out the creation of a Palestinian state or talks under any circumstances with the PLO, many Israelis are nervous, particularly those on the right.
Votes of no-confidence were cast by four members of parties belonging to the governing coalition: Hanan Porat of the National Religious Party and three from Agudat Yisrael.
Under normal parliamentary procedures, those parties should now resign from the coalition.
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.
