Shimon Peres won enthusiastic and near unanimous approval by the Labor Party tonight to head its list in the May 17 elections and become Premier if Labor forms the next Israeli government. Peres, 54, who is presently Defense Minister, was acclaimed the new leader by 790 of the 816 members of the Labor Party’s Central Committee. Only eight negative votes were cast and 18 members abstained.
He was warmly applauded when he pledged that as party leader he would be “the representative of every member of the party, every faction, every grouping, every shade of opinion.” The selection of Peres followed Premier Yitzhak Rabin’s announcement late Thursday night that he was resigning as leader of the Labor Party because of a joint bank account he and his wife had kept in Washington, D.C. in violation of Israel’s currency laws.
The dramatic events occurred less than two months after Rabin’s hairline victory over Peres at the Labor Party’s convention late in February. Rabin was re-elected leader by a margin of only 41 votes out of some 3000 ballots cast.
Peres was placed in nomination before the Central Committee tonight by Labor Party Secretary General Meir Zarmi, Rabin himself received a standing ovation when he arrived and took a seat in the front row. Zarmi said that his resignation had aroused “respect, love, grief and awe” among party members.
PERES’ MESSAGE TO THE NATION
Peres addressed some of his remarks to Rabin personally. He acknowledged that they were frequently at odds over the years and he was “not ashamed” to admit it. But he stressed that “on the central issues of defense and foreign policy” he and Rabin had always worked together “in good faith and harmony.” Peres said that although he had never made any secret of his aspirations to the Premiership, he was saddened by the circumstances of Rabin’s downfall and his ascendance to the seat of power.
Speaking to Rabin and, apparently to the Central Committee and the nation at large, Peres declared, “My message to you at this moment is ‘Chazak ve Ematz'” (Be strong and of good heart), the words of encouragement spoken by Moses to Joshua.
Peres used the occasion to warn the Arab countries “not to delude themselves” into thinking that at this moment of political and constitutional difficulty, Israel was ripe for attack. He warned that if they did, they would find Israel’s defense forces able to repel them.
MOVES TO CREATE UNITY
One of Peres’ first tasks will be to create unity within the factionalized Labor Alignment less than six weeks before election day. Earlier today he and other Labor Party leaders, including Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, Justice Minister Chaim Zadok and Abba Eban appeared before the “leadership bureau” of Mapam to try to persuade it not to break away from the Alignment.
Mapam indicated before the Labor Party convention that it would quit the Alignment if Peres was elected to leadership. An influential group within Mapam has been pushing for a break now because of wide differences with Peres on foreign policy and peace issues. The faction asked for and was granted status as an independent Knesset faction today which is the first step toward filing an independent election list.
A final decision will be made when the Mapam leadership meets tomorrow, the deadline for the filing of Knesset lists. Labor’s strongest argument against defection is that without Mapam, a Likud victory is likely on May 17.
Peres has also visited former Premier Golda Meir in an abvious attempt to remove her long-standing opposition to his leadership ambitions. In radio and television interviews over the weekend, before his election to head the Labor Party, Peres pledged to continue the policies of the present government.
He dismissed as an “unserious approach” the common distinction between “hawks” and “doves.” He promised to cooperate with all factions in the Labor Alignment and stressed that he, for one, had never quit when the party faced a crisis or when he was rebuffed for leadership, as occurred twice in the past. He said that if elected Premier he would strive to have the Geneva conference reconvened later this year.
POSSIBLE TOP POSTS FOR ALLON, EBAN
The composition of a new Labor-led government will be apparent tomorrow when the party files its election list. Political observers believe Peres will select Foreign Minister and Deputy Premier Yigal Allon for the No. 2 spot. Allon, who was a strong supporter of Rabin at the party’s convention, will have first choice of Cabinet posts and is expected to choose the defense portfolio.
Abba Eban, who supported Peres in his power struggle with Rabin, is expected to have the No. 3 spot in the next government, though not necessarily on the Knesset list. Eban served as Israel’s Foreign Minister for eight years, resigning at the end of 1973. He is believed virtually certain to become Foreign Minister in a government headed by Peres.
CAUTIOUS VIEW FROM WASHINGTON
(There was no immediate comment in Washington today over the selection of Peres as Labor Party leader. Speaking at Dobbins Air Force Base in Georgia on Friday, President Carter said that the resignation of Rabin could affect Middle East peace moves but he believed all Israeli leaders had a strong desire to settle the Middle East dispute. He told reporters that there was a great realization among Israeli leaders, as well as the
(In Washington, State Department chief spokesman Hodding Carter said Friday that the U.S. had complete confidence that Israel would continue to participate actively and fully in the search for Middle East peace despite Rabin’s resignation. “We do not expect this search to be interrupted by the workings of the democratic process in Israel,” the State Department spokesman said. He made his statement to reporters shortly after Israeli Ambassador Simcha Dinitz met with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance to explain the circumstances of Rabin’s resignation.)
(President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, who met with Carter in Washington last week, said on a CBS radio interview in Baden Baden. West Germany on Friday that Rabin’s resignation made no difference because all of Israel’s leaders are “hawks.”)
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.
