THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Old NRP Faction May Change
Israel's Current Political Map
By DAVID LANDAU
JERUSALEM (JTA) ---
The news that the almost
defunct "Likud Utemura"
(Unity and Change) faction
within the National Reli-
gious Party is attempting a
revival has aroused deep
interest within the political
community.
Premier Menahem Begin
himself, as well as other top
ministers, were reported to
have contacted NRP leaders
asking whether the Likud
Utemura return to the,
scene could have far-
reaching repercussions for
the coalition.
The man behind the
would-be revival is Likud
Utemura's • long-time
leader, former - Religions
Minister Yitzhak Raphael.
Raphael said cryptically —
' and significantly — that if
his faction would succeed in
restoring the NRP to its
former fortunes it would be
"tied to" neither of the two
main blocs, Likud or Labor.
Is In the national elections
last year, the NRP lost six of
its 12 seats in the Knesset.
Raphael said he had
o' always been "middle of
the road" within the tra-
dition of Mizrachi. His
chief lieutenant in Likud
Utemura, • former MK
David Glass of
Jerusalem, is a noted
dove within the religious
camp. Raphael', consid-
ered a powerful and very
talented individual, is
aproduct and advocate of
the traditional NRP-
Mizrachi moderation,
and is not tainted by the
extremism of the Gush
Emunim.
He is not personally '
committed to the Likud -
NRP alliance, having been
on the sidelines when it was
established five years ago
and renewed last year.
There are fears, therefore,
that if Raphael recaptures a
pivotal position in the NRP,
the party could move away
from Likud and return
eventually to the historic al-
liance with Labor.
Raphael stressed that he
himself -sought no formal
role of leadership in the re-
vived faction. But there was
no doubt that it is he, behind
the scenes, who is the driv-
ing force behind the revival.
In his media interviews,
Raphael is forthright in his
direct criticism of the NRP
leaders, Yosef Burg (of the
Lamifne faction) and Zevu-
lun Hammer and Yehuda
Ben-Meir (of the "Young
Guard" faction) for being
responsible for the party's
massive electoral defeat.
Raphael says he har-
bors no grudges, but
plainly his unceremoni-
ous ouster from the front
ranks of the party in 1977,
as a result of a "plot" in
which Glass and another
top lieutenant, Aharon
Abu - Hatzeira, cooper-
ated with the Young
Guard faction, still rank-
les Raphael. He seems to--
• MC Defeats Arab Move
in the UN NGO Conference
GENEVA — At the con-
clusion of a meeting at UN
headquarters in Geneva,
the World. Jewish Congress
successfully blocked a
_last-minute attempt to
associate the coordinating
body of Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) with
a UN-sponsored conference
on Palestine next year.
The effort, which was
•
made at the executive ses-
sion of the Conference of
NGOs, had the aim of for-
mally involving the NGO
body in preparations for the
I International Conference
on the Question of Palestine
to be convened next year by
the UN in Paris.
The Executive Commit-
tee of the Conference of
NGOs, the umbrella body of
non-governmental groups
having consultative status
with the UN, was conclud-
ing its first session since
last month's elections at
which the WJC succeeded in
• attaining a seat.
A surprise motion was
introduced formally urg-
ing the NGO grouping "to
cooperate in the prepara-
tions for the Interna-
tional Conference on the
Question of Palestine
os: convened under General
Assembly resolution 36/
fr
120, taking place at UN-
ESCO in Paris, in August
1983." The motion went
on to specify that NGO
cooperation be through
-
r
"a commission or work-
ing group."
Dr. Gerhart M. Riegner,
WJC secretary-general,
immediately rose and was
the lone voice to speak in
opposition. He argued that
the executive should deal
with matters that unite
NGOs and not with those
that divide them. The
executive, he added, had the
right to review all UN con-
ferences but was under no
obligation to deal with each
of them.
difficult
Following
negotiations behind closed
doors, agreement was
reached that the NGO
Executive would not con-
sider questions relating to
NGO participation in the
Palestine Conference.
Earlier, France's Ambas-
sador to the United Nations
in New York, Philippe
Louet, told the WJC that at
French insistence the offi-
cial designation of the con-
ference venue was changed
from "Paris" to "UNESCO
headquarters." Although
UNESCO's headquarters
are located in Paris, the
ambassador explained, its
"extra-territorial nature" is
meant to underscore that
the conference is of UN
sponsorship and not that of
France.
One should eat to live, not
live to eat.
have forgiven Glass —
who is now closely in-
vovled with him in the re-
vival of the faction. But
he still sees himself ap-
parently as at odds with
the other main .factions.
Before Raphael's ouster
from the party's front ranks,
in what was known as the
battle of the "long knives,"
the Likud Utemura faction
held 30 percent also held by
Burg's faction and 20-odd
percent by the Young
Guard.
The fear is that the past is
-prologue. If the Likud
Utemura revival succeeds,
it will make its mark when
the NRP holds -its internal
ejection, probably next Ap-
ril.
Some political observers
here link the revival of
Likud Utermura — a
nationwide meeting of ac-
tivists was held in Tel Aviv
— to reports of a decline in
the standing of Tami, the
ethnic breakaway party
formed by Abu - Hatzeria in
1981.
Some Tami adherents
have openly returned to
the NRP fold, and others
are signalling that they
would consider doing so
if Abu - Hatzeira's appeal
to the Supreme Court
against his conviction in
an embezzlement case is
not upheld. The 'case is
pending.
While Tami fared well in
the tough politicking at the
World Zionist Congress; the
public opinion polls in Israel
show it gradually fading as
a political force. A large
part of its activist member-
ship, which broke away
from NRP with Abu - Hat-
zeira, belonged to the Likud
Utemura faction, and, if
that faction is now revived,
some of them would be
tempted to return to their
former political home.
Friday, January
37
el, it.
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