INSIGHT

Rabin's
Rising
Star

Israeli voters are looking
with increasing favor on
former Defense Minister
Yitzhak Rabin as a prime
ministerial candidate

ZE'EV CHAFETS

Israel Correspondent

C *989 INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT BY CARTOCWWS INC.. N.Y.

E

any on the Wednes-
day morning before
Passover, Shimon
Peres put on his best dark
suit and, accompanied by his
normally reclusive wife
Sonya, left his apartment in
the Tel Aviv suburb of
Ramat Aviv for Jerusalem.
For Peres, this was to be a
day of triumph. He had al-
ready informed President
Chaim Herzog that a
majority of the Knesset
would vote to confirm him as
Prime Minister, and he ex-
pected to be confirmed that
morning.
Peres often refers to
himself as an incurable op-
timist, but what happened
on the way to the capital was
enough to cloud his rose
-, colored glasses. He learned
from a radio report that
Member of Knesset
Avraham Verdiger of the
ultra-Orthodox Agudat
Yisrael Party had decided to

resign rather than go along
with the ruling of the Coun-
cil of Torah Sages to vote for
Peres. And, without Ver-
diger, he had no majority.
The painful collapse of
Peres' intended coalition
was only slightly softened by
President Herzog's agree-
ment to grant him a 15-day
extension to set up a
government. The Likud was
naturally pleased by the
fiasco; but, according to
Labor Party insiders, former
Defense Minister Yitzhak
Rabin was scarcely less
happy.
Despite the fact that they
both belong to the Labor
Party, Peres and Rabin are
more like rival barons than
colleagues. And, although he
wouldn't admit it publicly,
Peres' humiliation was a
moment of opportunity for
Rabin.
Animosity between the
two men goes back to the

mid- '70s, when Peres served
as Defense Minister in the
government headed by
Rabin. During that time,
Peres consistently undercut
the Prime Minister, and
many around Rabin believe
that it was Peres who leaked

"Rabin is . . . an
excellent number
two man, and a
terrible number
one."
Biographer
Matti Golan

the fact of Rabin's illegal
bank account to Ha' aretz
reporter Dan Margolit, caus-
ing Rabin to resign as head
of the party. In a subsequent
autobiography, Rabin
blasted Peres for trickery
and disloyalty, dubbing him
"a tireless subversive."

Once on top, Peres con-
solidated his hold on the
Labor central committee,
which selects the party's
prime ministerial candidate.
But Rabin retained enough
support to remain number
two, a position he has held
ever since. Shortly before
the 1981 election, the two
men reached a chilly truce,
which they have maintained
for almost a decade.
In that time they have de-
veloped a modus operandi,
with Rabin having virtual
veto power over most party
decisions, as well as the final
word on defense matters.
But their working relation-
ship has never been
mistaken for friendship;
both men describe their rela-
tions as "correct." That deli-
cate balance is now
threatened by the current
political crisis. In recent
days, an increasing number
of voices within Labor circles

have called for Peres to
resign in favor of Rabin.
Rabin himself has remained
silent, although sources
close to him acknowledge
that he is strongly consider-
ing a leadership challenge.
Even some of Peres' long-
time supporters are now
prepared to contemplate
such a change. If Peres fails
to construct a narrow coali-
tion, the two most likely
scenarios are new elections,
or another 'Government of
National Unity,' possibly
based on a prime ministerial
rotation between the heads
of the two major parties. In
either case, Rabin appears to
be a more attractive can-
didate than his rival.
This week, a newspaper
poll showed Rabin to be the
public's first choice for
Prime Minister, with Peres a
distant third (after Yitzhak
Shamir). Rabin's hardline
handling of the Palestinian

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