I NSIGHT
General
Respect
Israeli military leaders in the
government, like Ariel Sharon and
Ezer Weizman, tend to respect each other,
despite their ideological differences.
ZE'EV CHAFETS
Israel Correspondent
T
his week's political
headlines were sup-
plied by two of Israel's
most colorful and controver-
sial politicians — Ezer
Weizman of Labor, and the
Likud's Ariel Sharon.
Weizman, who was fired
last month from the inner
cabinet of the Israeli
government for meeting
with PLO officials, was
cleared of any possible viola-
tion of the country's anti-
terror laws by Attorney
Yosef Harish. On the same
day, Sharon, who resigned
from the government in the
wake of last week's
tempestuous Likud Central
Committee meeting, served
notice that he intends to try
to unseat his party's prime
minister, Yitzhak Shamir.
Sharon is now the leader of
the hawkish wing of the
Likud, while Weizman
heads the dovish faction of
the Labor Party. Yet despite
their ideological and polit-
ical differences, the two men
have more than a little in
common.
Both are sabra heroes of
the 1948 War of In-
dependence; both are former
generals in the Israel
Defense Forces; and both
have a long history of in-
furiating prime ministers
and other superiors with
their outspoken, sometimes
insubordinate behavior.
Perhaps most significantly,
Sharon and Weizman are
close friends, and members
of Israel's most exclusive po-
litical club — the old boys
network of ex-generals for
whom personal relationships
and shared experiences cut
across party lines.
Following Sharon's resig-
nation, there are four ex-
generals still in the govern-
ment: Weizman, Defense
Minister Yitzhak Rabin,
Police Minister Chaim Bar
Lev, and Mordechai "Motta"
Gur. Rabin, Bar-Lev and
Gur are all former chiefs of
staff. Not coincidentally, all
belong to the Labor Party.
During the 29 years of Labor
Party rule, which ended in
1977, political reliability
was an important criterion
for the top army spot.
In recent years, military
appointments have become
less political, although the
army remains an important
recruiting ground for politi-
cians. Labor has lately been
reinforced by ex-generals
Ori Orr, Yanush Ben-Gal
and Efriam Sneh, while the
Likud boasts former head of
military intelligence
Yehoshua Seguy and Ramat
Gan mayor Zvi Barr, the
retired commander of the
border police. Moreover, in a
television program on Israel
in the year 2000, political
analyst Chanan Crystal
Far left,
Ariel Sharon:
Still friendly with doves.
Ezer Weizman:
Publicized Rabin's troubles.
predicted that within a
decade, Ehud Barak or
Amram Mitznah, both gen-
erals, could be among the
Likud's leaders.
In addition to the major
parties, there are a number
of prominent ex-generals
among the smaller, more ex-
treme factions. General
Mattiyahu "Matti" Peled, a
hero of the Six Day War, is
one of Israel's most promi-
nent doves, and a fervent
advocate of a Palestinian
state. On the other end of the
spectrum, former chief of
staff Rafael "Raful" Eitan
leads the nationalist Tzomet
Party, while Rechavam
"Gandi" Ze'evi is the
founder of the super
hawkish Moledet movement,
which favors a transfer of
Arabs from the West Bank
and Gaza.
Because of their many
years of common military
service, the paths of these
ex-generals have crossed in
some complicated, often
paradoxical ways. Weizman,
for example, was the number
two figure in the army at the
time of the Six Day War. It
was he who later publicized
the fact that his superior,
Yitzhak Rabin, suffered a
nervous breakdown on the
eve of the campaign.
Ironically, it was Rabin who
brokered the deal that
allowed Weizman to remain
in the Shamir government
following revelations of his
contacts with PLO officials.
Sharon, too, has a love-
hate relationship with his
former commanding officer.
When Rabin was prime min-
ister, in the mid- seventies,
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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