were expressed. Many activists
who had worked for Mr. Ne-
tanyahu's election hoped for pa-
tronage jobs after he won. Not so,
they claim.
"I've been unemployed for two
and a half years, but nobody
cares," said 31-year-old Yosef
Levi. "We worked like dogs dur-
ing the campaign, but now that
they've won, you can't get
through to anyone in the gov-
ernment."
Mohammed Ka'abiya, a
Bedouin from the Galilee,t had
similar words. "I want you to
know that I support the prime
minister and the peace process,"
he said. "The world is changing,
and the Likud must change with
it. But there are other problems.
Bibi's people haven't appointed
a single Bedouin to head any of
our local councils. Don't they
think we're capable of governing
ourselves? We've called, wired,
and faxed, but so far no one's had
the courtesy of a reply."
At a campaign rally two days
before the election, Messrs. Ne-
tanyahu and Ka'abiya were en-
veloped in each other's arms.
Compounding the atmosphere
for Mr. Netanyahu and his sup-
porters, the Yesha Council of
Jewish Communities in Judea,
Samaria and Gaza handed out
fliers headlined "100 Days of Dis-
appointment."
The next day, Mr. Netanyahu
met with its representatives.
They complained about the lack
of building starts and that com-
pleted apartments were still not
being offered for sale.
Two days later, they joined
groups to the right of the Likud
for a rally in the heart of
Jerusalem. Some of the protest
placards read: `The Prime Min-
ister — the Chief Liar."
But perhaps most telling was
a poll conducted for Israel Tele-
vision's Channel One. In re-
sponse to an open question asked
three weeks before Mr. Ne-
tanyahu's meeting with Mr.
Arafat, the respondents chose
Shimon Peres as man of the year
(23 percent vs. 17 percent for Mr.
Netanyahu).
Equally striking, the poll also
showed Mr. Netanyahu to be the
most "disappointing political fig-
ure" of the past year (25 percent
before the Erez meeting, climb-
ing to 30 percent after it).
Mr. Netanyahu responded by
saying that he was "not im-
pressed by momentary phenom-
ena" and complained that the
nation had been presented with
an "exaggerated and distorted
picture of what was going on."
Nevertheless, it's clear that the
prime minister is being squeezed
on the one hand by the opposi-
tion, Egypt, Jordan, and the Clin-
ton Administration. On the other
side, he faces his own party —
plus many voters who provided
him with his tiny margin of vic-
tory against Mr. Peres. ❑
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