In Shifting Sands

Prospect of
national
elections
this spring

draws a
raft of

contenders.

In
Israel

DAVID LANDAU
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Jerusalem

T

he Knesset's dramatic deci-
sion to call for early elec-
tions is quickly leading to a
reshaping of Israel's politi-

cal map.
One day after the Knesset vote, a
new, centrist political party and sever-
al potential candidates have emerged
to challenge Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu.
As a result of a potential onslaught
from the right, left and center, the pre-
mier will have to define his own politi-
cal turf carefully as what promises to be
a raucous political campaign unfolds.
The peace process with the
Palestinians has become the prime
issue around which the various com-
peting political forces are shaping
themselves.
On the far right, there is much
suspicion of the premier. Though
Netanyahu has indeed talked tough
to the Palestinian side, he nevertheless
became the first Likud leader to cede
portions of the Land of Israel to the
self-rule government.

• 2/25

1998
10 Detroit Jewish News

Some prominent voices in the set-
tlers' movement and the National
Religious Party are openly calling for
the creation of a new nationalist
movement, unsullied by compromis-
es, with a new leader at its helm to
run against Netanyahu and what they
perceive as his zig-zagging policies.
Knesset member Ze'ev "Benny"
Begin, briefly a minister under
Netanyahu and now one of his most
outspoken foes, indicated Tuesday
that he is seriously weighing the
option of declaring his candidacy.
Meanwhile, a new political center is
emerging as an alternative to the hard-
liners and the doves — and several
politicians appear eager to stake it out:
• Knesset member Dan Meridor
— another of the premier's former
ministers, who represents the moder-
ate wing of the Likud Party —
announced Tuesday that he would
run for prime minister as the head of
the new, centrist party.
Meridor, who resigned as finance
minister in June 1997 after losing a
power struggle with Netanyahu, was
an aide and intimate of the late Likud
founder, Menachem Begin, and his
successor, Yitzhak Shamir. He accuses
Netanyahu of using unprincipled

power politics to run the parry and

and its religious and nationalist allies
the country.
But even among his supporters, he
• Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, the
is plagued by the perception that
recently retired army chief of staff, is
throughout his 30 months in office
expected to announce his candidacy
he has repeatedly shifted his stance oil
soon, after having declined offers
the peace process.
from the Labor Parry to join its ranks.
A case in point: On Monday,
Shahak has consistently made a
sources close to Netanyahu said tha[1
strong showing in the opinion polls
if the Knesset voted for early elec-
and is likely to appeal to the crucial
tions, the peace process with the
middle-of-the-road voter.
Palestinians would be put on hold foi
Shahak would defeat Netanyahu in
the duration of the election cam-
a one-on-one race for the Israeli pre-
paign. Netanyahu adopted this posi-
miership if the election were held
tion to win over hard-liners before
today, according to a poll conducted
the Knesset voted for early elections.
for the Yediot Achronot newspaper.
A day later, after the vote, the
• Roni Milo, the former mayor of
prime minister said he would implez
Tel Aviv and Likud Cabinet minister is
ment the Wye accord, even during
also joining the crowded battle for the
the election period, as long as the
center. Since announcing his candida-
Palestinian Authority lived up to a
cy, he has been raising money at home
series of conditions.
and abroad to finance his
With the election cam-
campaign.
Le : Amnon
paign under way,
• Labor Parry leader Ehud
Lipkin-Shahak
Netanyahu had switched
Barak, also a former army
course and was steering for
chief of staff, is casting him-
the center. Granted, his pr
self as a centrist on matters pertaining
fessed readiness to implement Wye
to the peace process. Carefully dis-
was still hedged by his list of condi-
tancing himself from Labor's left wing
tions. But the whole tone and tenor
and from its ally, the Meretz Parry,
of his statement was now positive.
Barak refuses to explicitly endorse
Netanyahu apparently had his eye
Palestinian aspirations for statehood
on the 80 percent of Israelis who, in
and backs Netanyahu's refusal to
poll after poll, voice their desire that
release Palestinian political prisoners
the peace process with the
"with blood on their hands".
Palestinians go forward.
At the same time, Barak is taking
This shifting stance has typified h
outspokenly leftist positions on mat-
policy on the peace process.
ters of social policy. Getting his cam-
To his detractors, from the right
paign into full swing this week, he
and from the left, it is pure oppor-
charged that Netanyahu has been ear-
tunism. But he describes it as pure
marking funds for settlement expan-
consistency — a consistent readiness
sion at the expense of education, wel-
to move ahead on the peace process,
fare programs and employment.
despite the hard-liners in his coali-
As though he did not have enough
tion; but also a consistent toughness
candidates to contend with,
in negotiating, which he insists was
Netanyahu may also face a challenge
not displayed by his political oppo-
for the leadership of Likud.
nents when they held power.

People like Limor Livnat, the pop-
ular communications minister, and
Uzi Landau, the hard-line chairman
of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee, are being touted
as possible challengers to the prime
minister from within his own party.
Two other Likud figures may also
jump in: Defense Minister Yitzhak
Mordechai and Jerusalem Mayor
Ehud Olmert.
In order to beat all the other can-
didates — and this is a point that
Netanyahu himself frequently makes
to his advisers — the premier must
not lose his political base: the Likud

He will now have to convince the
Israeli public of this consistency.
As all the politicians and parties
jockey for position at the starting
gate, one thing is certain: the cam-
paign will become more frenetic and
unpredictable by the time they reach
the finish line.
Israel, after all, has never had an
election in which the prime minister
was elected in a second-round run-
off, which is likely to be the case this
time, given the plethora of would-be
candidates.
No one is really sure how the vot-
ers are likely to behave. ❑