Undermined From Within

Will former ally Chaim Ramon's end Yitzhak Rabin's reign
even before the Likud gets its chance?

INA FRIEDMAN ISRAEL CORRESPONDENT

erusalem — If Yitzhak Ra-
bin is looking increasing be-
leaguered these days, that's
because he's battling for
peace, and thus political survival,
on four fronts: the Palestinian,
the Syrian, the Jordanian, and
now the domestic front of the His-
tadrut, Israel's national federa-
tion of labor — a bastion of
support for his Labor Party.
The first three fronts speak for
themselves. The battle on the
fourth is a new development
prompted by the up-coming elec-
tions for the Histadrut (scheduled
for May 10) and the sudden ap-
pearance of a wicked wild card
that threatens the standing of

41 1

Mr. Rabin, Labor and thus the
government as a whole.
The curve ball that's hit them
all between the eyes has come in
the form of 44-year-old Chaim
Ramon, the "golden boy" of La-
bor's younger generation who
turned renegade last week and
challenged his party by running
on his own "apolitical" list for the
Histadrut.
Until recently the health min-
ister in Mr. Rabin's government,
Mr. Ramon resigned when the
bill he proposed to reform the na-
tional health-care system was re-
jected by the Labor Party under
pressure from the Histadrut. At
first he announced that he would

be content serving a rank-and-
file member of the Knesset.
But it seemed clear that he
wouldn't remain so for long. Mr.
Rabin, in fact, delayed replacing
him (retaining the health portfo-
lio himself), and rumor had it
that he would bring Mr. Ramon
back into the Cabinet in a brand
new post: the exponent of na-
tional policy (a kind of minister
of information), which the well-
spoken Mr. Ramon held infor-
mally in the past.
But Mr. Ramon balked at the
idea. And instead of just declin-
ing the offer, he decided (togeth-
er with Knesset members Amir
Peretz and Shmuel Avital) to con-

front the party, head on, by con-
testing Labor's slate for the His-
tadrut — thereby upsetting the
balance of forces within the gov-
ernment as a whole.
The immediate result has been
a huge, acrimonious row within
the Labor Party. The first spin-
off is the emergence of cracks
within the Labor-Meretz coali-
tion, as Meretz has joined forces
with Mr. Ramon in the Histadrut
race.
The most intriguing thing
about the whole affair is that if
the polls are any indication, this
baby-faced gladiator has a good
chance of trouncing the "di-
nosaurs" of the Histadrut's well-
oiled "machine"
On the face of it, Mr. Ramon is
an improbable choice as Israel's
champion of the working man.
Politics are his forte and have
been as far back as anyone can
remember. Though he grew up
in poverty in Jaffa — a point he
has worked hard to stress re-
cently — he is not a Ceasar
Chavez.

sPos
/
Days

Instead, he headed for a polit-
ical career from the start, study-
ing law, joining the Labor Party,
and working his way up to a min-
istership. Mediagenic, quick wit-
ted, and glib, he has all the
makings of a consummate politi-
cian — including a knack for
backing the right horse. (Though
long associated with Labor's
doves, for example, he switched
his support from Foreign Minis-
ter Shimon Peres to Mr. Rabin
before the last national election.)
He's also been a self-styled can-
didate for prime minister in the
"post-Rabin era," as a suitable
counterweight to the mediagenic,
quick-witted, and glib Bibi Ne-
tanyahu of the Likud. (Indeed, a
Labor poll has shown Mr. Ramon
commanding almost a third of the
party's support to succeed Mr.
Rabin, twice as much as any oth-
er potential contender).
What's more, far from being
identified with the Histadrut, for
the past two years Mr. Ramon
has been Labor's most outspoken
critic of its bureaucracy. U

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