Middle East
Israel
Bazaar Politics
In the aftermath of right-wing Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon’s landslide victory over incumbent Labor Party Prime Minister Ehud Barak in the Feb. 6 election, the Feb. 15 editorial in Tel Aviv’s centrist Yediot Aharonot summed up the mood of many in Israel: “Israelis are desperate because they sought peace, pursued peace, and many were even ready to pay its heavy price, and here, ‘they sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind’ [Hosea 8:7].”
The whirlwind has swept former adversaries into intense negotiations over the formation of a national-unity government pledged by Sharon during the campaign. Although Barak announced his retirement from the Labor Party’s leadership and from the Knesset on election night, he almost immediately plunged into negotiations with Sharon. Ten days after the election, Sharon and Barak announced that Labor would join a national-unity government, in which Barak would serve as defense minister and Labor’s Shimon Peres as foreign minister.
The announcement of the agreement created a backlash across the political spectrum. Yossi Verter, writing in the liberal Ha’aretz (Feb. 16), reported that Labor’s Haim Ramon said, “Barak lacks the authority to reach agreements with Prime Minister-elect Sharon.” Ramon added, “A [Labor Party] steering committee for these negotiations has been established, and everything needs to be done by teamwork. The era of one-man rule in the Labor Party ended nine days ago, and we saw where it led us.”
In its Feb. 16 editorial, the right-wing, religious daily Ha’tzofeh said: “Sharon must accept the fact that even after completing negotiations with the Labor Party he still does not have a coalition government. He must seek the support of the national bloc and especially the support of the religious parties, which hold the key to a national unity government.…The National Religious Party will not join a government that will discuss dismantling of settlements.” This was a reference to the fact that Sharon’s victory was largely due to the votes he garnered from religious settlers in the occupied territories and from religious voters in general.
In his political commentary in Yediot Aharonot (Feb. 16) veteran analyst Nahum Barnea wrote: “The result of this is a crippled government; almost goofy….Barak will kill Palestinians for Sharon and Peres will be humiliated by them in Sharon’s place.”
The intense criticism hit its mark: On Feb. 20, Barak again resigned from politics. The Labor Party was left leaderless, with factions vying for control—some promoting participation in Sharon’s national-unity government and others refusing to participate.
Meanwhile, Sharon found himself in the odd position of relying upon the Labor Party in order to form his government and keep out the extreme right-wing elements represented by Rehavam Ze’evi of Moledet and Avigdor Lieberman of Israel Beitenu. In order to placate the moderate right-wing parties and the religious parties, Sharon is considering the creation of a government with close to 30 ministers. If he succeeds, it will be the largest government in Israel’s history.
At press time, the horse-trading continued in a political climate so fluid that even Israeli dailies had difficulty keeping abreast of the breaking news.
