Behind the Headlines: Peres’ Future Uncertain As Labor Ministers Bicker

Shimon Peres never looked more uncomfortable than when he and Benjamin Netanyahu stood before reporters this week at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

The two men, who had just emerged from their first meeting since last week’s election, had discussed “matters of national security” in advance of the expected handover of government later this month, according to Netanyahu.

As he did during his victory speech to the Likud Party faithful Sunday night, the prime minister-elect once again went out of his way to praise Peres’ contribution to the state and its security.

The 46-year-old Netanyahu said he would always want to sit with Peres and listen to his “fascinating and gripping” conversation.

Netanyahu said the Tuesday meeting should be “an example for the entire world, not just Israelis, that in a democracy like ours, governments can change hands smoothly.”

Peres’ face, meanwhile, grew longer and longer. His eyes stared out straight ahead at an indeterminate point above the reporters’ heads. If he shifted his gaze, it seemed, his stony facade might crack completely.

The image reflected the man himself, a man whose future after 50 years of serving the state seemed uncertain. It was also a reflection of the uncertainty plaguing the Labor Party that Peres had led and that now stood defeated.

“My heart goes out to him,” Minister of Housing Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said, watching the footage at the studios of Israel Television’s second Channel.

Likud member Tzachi Hanegbi, a likely ministerial appointment in the new Cabinet, also seemed embarrassed by the veteran statesman’s obvious discomfort.

He sought to soften the moment for television viewers with words of praise for Peres’ long record of service.

What Peres will do now is a big question mark.

Sources close to the outgoing prime minister dismiss speculation abroad that he might be a candidate for secretary-general of the United Nations or of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The sources said Peres might take a university position, adding that possible a special position would be created for him at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

In addition, he will spend time on his writing, they said.

The implication is that he will stand down in the not too distant future as chairman of the Labor Party.

Labor’s constitution calls for a leadership election within 14 months of an electoral defeat. But Peres may not wish to stay on that long.

For now, his presence at the helm is serving a much-needed stabilizing effect, as the party leadership goes through a wrenching process of recrimination and internal struggle in the wake of Peres’ defeat.

Amid all the wrangling, talk of creating a national unity government continued.

As Netanyahu began negotiating with the smaller, mostly religious parties who are expected to join his government, Yitzhak Shamir, a former Likud prime minister, said a unity government was the best way to heal the deep divisions among Israelis.

Before the elections, Netanyahu had floated the idea of a forming a unity government with Labor, but he has not raised the issue again since his victory.

While Peres reportedly opposes the idea, he did not rule it out in meeting with Labor Party ministers this week, saying that the party should wait for an offer from Likud.

Whether such an offer would be forthcoming is now taking second place to the internecine strife among Labor leaders.

Since the results became known last week, Peres has urged his two senior lieutenants, Foreign Minister Ehud Barak and Interior Minister Haim Ramon, to cease their high-profile feuding over who was to blame for the prime minister’s defeat.

At a session of the party leadership Monday night, the two men traded accusations, which were instantly leaked to the media.

Ramon claimed that Barak, who had served as Peres’ personal campaign manager, “did precious little except complain and hurl accusations at others.”

Barak’s camp contended that it believed for several weeks that Peres’ standing was slipping but that Ramon, who had headed advertising and publicity for Peres, had refused to take account of this information and did not let it filter through to Peres himself.

As the allegations fly, a picture of disharmony and backbiting in Labor’s election headquarters is being depicted in ever sharper colors.

This internal conflict may subside once Labor settles down to life in opposition after the new Knesset begins its term June 17.

But it is bound to well up again once the battle for the party leadership begins.

Barak is a certain candidate for the position, and Ramon is likely to run as well – unless after the current conflict he decides to take a break from politics.

Another candidate expected to announce in the coming days his quest for the leadership is Minister of Health Ephraim Sneh.

Yossi Beilin, minister without portfolio and close Peres protege, says he will run for chairman of the Labor Knesset faction, an important position for a party in opposition.

But he is not explicitly ruling out a bid for the party chairmanship at a later date.

One man who has already declared his candidacy for the prime ministerial election in the year 2000 is Yossi Sarid, the leader of the left-wing Meretz Party.

With his party’s win of nine seats in the incoming Knesset – after the polls two months ago were predicting five – Sarid can claim to have had a relatively successful election, even though Meretz dropped from its 12 seats in the outgoing Knesset.

But Sarid must first contend with widespread accusations both within Labor and among independent analysts that Meretz’s radically anti-Orthodox campaigning many well have deterred a significant number of voters from supporting Peres.