This Week
Election Preamble
Israel's two main parties roil as leadership batiks approach.
LESLIE SUSSER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jerusalem
A
riel Sharon may still be the most popular
politician in Israel, having proven
himself remarkably skillful at nav-
igating the country's fractious
political culture. But the political forces that
could bring about the prime minister's down-
fall are now in motion.
With general elections at most a year away, domestic
politics in Israel are buzzing. Within the space of just a
few months, both the Likud and Labor parties could
have new leaders.
In the Likud Party, former Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu is expected to challenge Sharon for the
party leadership in the fall.
Labor chooses a leader on Nov. 19, and whoever
wins is likely to pull the party out of Sharon's national
unity government and mount a vigorous challenge
from the opposition benches. The election campaign
could even lead to a split in Labor, and a new party
with a strongly leftist tilt.
While party elections might seem like an internal
Israeli issue, at stake is the direction of the blocs that
will contend for power as Israel struggles to break out
of military, diplomatic and economic crises.
Opinion polls currently show Sharon leading
Netanyahu and all the various potential Labor leaders,
but things could change dramatically by Election Day,
depending on developments in the Israeli-Palestinian
crisis and on the economic front.
week, given organizational gaffes that led to pandemo-
nium and a delay in the balloting in Jerusalem and
some other localities.
Still, the composition of the party's new central
committee will give a first indication of the balance of
power between Sharon and Netanyahu; the
first sign could be whether the convention
chooses a Sharon man or a Netanyahu sup-
porter as its chairman.
Netanyahu cohorts accuse Sharon of
planning to use his control of party machinery to
manipulate the central committee's operations.
ANA LYSIS
Sharon's people dismiss Netanyahu's claims, but
even they have to concede that the gap among Likud
supporters — as opposed to party members -- is dos-
- ing. The latest independent poll in the Ma'ariv news-
paper shows Sharon's lead over Netanyahu down from
12 percentage points to just 2, 43 percent to 41 per-
cent.
Netanyahu has tried to outflank Sharon from the
right and blast the government's economic perform-
ance. For example, he urges tougher military and
political action against the Palestinians — including
the expulsion of Palestinian Authority leader Yasser
Arafat — and claims to have the economic training
and vision Sharon lacks.
Labor politicians also are mounting a two-pronged
attack on Sharon. At their party convention in late
September, Labor Party members cited Sharon's atti-
tude toward the Palestinians and Israel's ailing econo-
my as reasons to leave the national unity government.
ELECTION on page 35
Clockwise from top left:
Israeli Defense Minister
Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and former
Cabinet Minister Haim Ramon,
who intends to challenge Ben-Eliezer
for the party leadership.
Haifa Mayor Amram Mitzna
Likud Vote
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
This week, Sharon and Netanyahu crossed swords in a
crucial preliminary duel. The 305,000-strong Likud
membership went to the polls Oct. 7 to elect the
2,500 delegates who form the central committee, the
party's highest policy-making body.
The outcome of the vote won't be known until next
Former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
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