THE ISRAELI ELECTION

In Tel Aviv,
They Feel
Shafted
By Shamir

There's a sense of betrayal among
young and old alike.

LARRY DERFNER

Special to The Jewish News

Pill el Aviv — Menachem Begin was
one of Tel Aviv's favorite sons, hav-
ing lived most of his adult life here.
My expectation was that the po-
litical mood in the city shortly af-
ter his death would be more
pro-Likud than usual, out of sen-
timent for Mr. Begin's memory,
but this was not the case.
Instead, traditional Likud supporters, the kind who
loved Mr. Begin almost as a father, said his absence
highlighted how disappointing his successors, Yitzhak
Shamir and the other party elders, appeared in com-
parison.
Tel Aviv was a remarkably accurate mirror of the
nationwide electorate in the 1988 elections. Nation-
ally, the Likud won 40 seats to Labor's 39. Likewise,
Tel Aviv gave the slightest nod to the Likud, 72,116
votes to Labor's 71,489. The city is split down the mid-
dle — geographically, ethnically, socio-economically,
and politically. The northside is relatively well-off and
mainly Ashkenazi, tending toward Labor and the
left-wing parties. The southside is poor and over-
whelmingly Sephardi, and votes primarily for
Likud and the extreme right-wing and religious
parties.
The heart of the southside is the Central Bus
Station — rough, loud, dirty, noisy, swirling with
people, a real Middle Eastern bazaar. Among
the mainstays there are the cab drivers, who live
mainly in the working-class towns surrounding
Tel Aviv. They are what's called the amcha — the
common man, the salt of the earth, the kind who
make Kiddush on Friday night, and on Satur-

24

FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 1992

day scream their lungs out at the soccer match. They
are also solidly Likud, but that may be changing.
A group of Sephardi drivers lounging against their
cabs grumbled about how bad business was — down
about 50 percent recently, they estimated. This, and
the general economic doldrums in Israel, is the sort of
thing that leads people to vote against an incumbent.
For the drivers, another important factor is that
Shimon Peres, whom they hate as the personification
of the rich, educated Ashkenazi who sympathizes with
the Palestinians and looks down on the Sephardim,
has been replaced by Yitzhak Rabin as the head of the
Labor Party.
Mr. Rabin is seen as more hawkish and more hon-
est, as well as a war hero, which is something they ad-
mire.
Shai Cohen, a 32-year-old driver from Rishon Lezion,
whose parents came here in the early 1950s from Iraq,
said, "The cab drivers are the true face of Israel. As
we go, so goes the whole country."
It's not such an overstatement. Mr. Cohen, for one,
hasn't made up his mind. He always voted Likud in

Can voter unrest be heard?
Prime Minister Shamir may find
that once-loyal Sephardim
are unhappy with Likud.

the past, but this time he doesn't know "Labor screwed
over the blacks (Sephardim) for 30 years, and Begin
put the smile back on our faces," he said. "But since
Begin left, the Likud has gone to hell. The only one I'd
support is his son, Benny, or Bibi Netanyahu."
The drivers also talked about how the Shamir and
Sharon camps in the Likud had ganged up on one of
their heroes, the Moroccan-born, former construction
worker and current foreign minister, David Levy,
undercutting him badly during the recent internal
party elections.
"What they did to David Levy hurt us," said Mr. Co-
hen. "He's gotten to where he is all by himself, with
no help from anyone, except for Begin, who first put
him in the cabinet. Levy represents a third of the
Likud's support, and all the disgusting, dirty tricks
they pulled on him — this was the Likud's suicide.
They gave the election to Rabin."
Across town is Ramat Aviv Gimmel, one of Tel Aviv's
wealthiest suburbs. This is considered Labor country.
Mr. Peres and Mr. Rabin live in the area. The Super-
sol supermarket there is the city's most expensive, and
the best stocked with delicacies and other high-
priced items.
Checking out the low-fat yogurt was Vered To-
har, 30, dressed in an understated gray blazer
and beige slacks, her blond hair carefully tousled.
She is a secretary and her husband a manager at
a country club.
"We have no money problems," she said. In
1988 she voted Likud, in 1984 she thinks she
voted for Shinui, one of the left-wing parties, but
she can't remember precisely. What she knows
is that she won't vote for Likud again.

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