Labor members criticize Barak’s talks with premier

JERUSALEM, Aug. 11 (JTA) — Labor Party members have criticized the party’s chairman for holding discussions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the possible creation of a national unity government. Ehud Barak met with Netanyahu earlier this week in what was supposed to be a secret meeting. But Labor Knesset members charged that the premier leaked the meeting to the media in an effort to exert pressure on hard-liners in his Cabinet who are opposed to further Israeli redeployment from the West Bank. The opposition leader and the prime minister reportedly discussed the possibility of forming a national unity government as soon as the long-delayed Israeli redeployment in the West Bank takes place. The timing of that pullback remains in doubt after Israeli-Palestinian talks were suspended last week. Senior Labor officials questioned how Barak could participate in the discussions while at the same time stating publicly that Netanyahu was unfit to govern. The two met after Barak returned to Israel from a weeklong visit to the United States, during which he tried to gain support in Washington and in the Jewish community for the Labor Party’s approach to the peace process. Sources close to Barak explained that when a premier invites the head of the opposition for a secret meeting, the invitation must be accepted. Three months ago, after Israeli media reported on a supposedly secret meeting between Barak and Netanyahu, the Labor Party leader’s office declared angrily that there would be no more secret meetings, and that future meetings between the two would be made public. But Barak has reportedly met secretly with Netanyahu at least four times in the past three months. Knesset member Yossi Beilin, who accompanied Barak on his U.S. visit, said he had no problem with the meeting but was concerned about its substance. “It’s clear that there will not be a national unity government because Netanyahu understands that this will mean a divorce with the extreme right. I will not serve in a national unity government,” said Beilin.