Israeli Coalition Reaffirms It Backs Shamir Peace Plan

JERUSALEM —  Leaders from the Likud and Labor parties reaffirmed Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s Palestinian peace plan Sunday, keeping Israel’s shaky coalition government afloat.

Agreeing to overlook deep differences in their approach to peace, the ministers voted at the government’s weekly Cabinet meeting to reaffirm the peace plan, which includes Palestinian elections as a key element, “without additions or changes.”

The vote ended three weeks of sharp debate that threatened to bring down the eight-month-old governing partnership.

The political crisis began July 5, when Shamir’s Likud Party voted to put new conditions on a peace plan approved by the government in May. The original plan called for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip to elect a peace delegation that would work out an autonomy scheme with Israel.

The new conditions would have barred Israel from giving up land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in exchange for peace, banned the participation of Arabs in East Jerusalem in the vote for a peace delegation and required that the 19-month-old Arab uprising end before talks leading to a vote could get under way.

Shamir, who had preferred that these issues remain fuzzy, gave in to each condition.

The Labor Party reacted sharply; both Finance Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin threatened a pullout. But the party delayed a final decision, leaving time for maneuver and compromise that culminated Sunday.

“We said that if things returned to the previous situation, we would stay,” explained Peres. “Today (Sunday) the government decided that its previous decision on the peace initiative commits its ministers, not just the government.”

Question Left Open

In essence, Likud and Labor have agreed to put major differences aside and leave open the key issue of whether to give up any or all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The ambiguity is meant to give room for the peace plan to get off the ground.

The result highlighted the central roles of Shamir and Rabin in both maintaining political stability and shepherding the open ambiguities of the peace plan through hostile traffic. With economic problems mounting, a volatile mood building in the country and Israel’s chief ally, the United States, looking on disapprovingly, the coalition partners took the safe route of transient unity.

In recent weeks, Likud has been shaken by the bid of Trade Minister Ariel Sharon to virtually usurp Shamir’s power. Sharon, who as defense minister in 1982 led Israel into the war in Lebanon, campaigned to close loopholes in Shamir’s peace proposal that could end with Israel giving up land. He also pushed for tougher military measures to break the Arab revolt.

Threat Withdrawn

At a Cabinet meeting last week, Sharon and Shamir clashed openly, and Shamir implied that he would fire Sharon from his ministerial post. The threat was later withdrawn.

Still, Sharon was unrepentant. On Sunday, along with Likud allies David Levy and Yitzhak Modai, Sharon voted against the new resolution.

After the Cabinet vote, Sharon evaded reporters and remained silent. Levy, who is housing minister, insisted that Likud’s policy pronouncements are viable restraints on the peace initiative. “The decisions of the Likud are the vessel, the commitment that bind every one of us,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the Labor Party, differences of view also emerged. Peres, after initiating the threat to leave the government, quickly backed off. Younger members of the party clamored for Labor to bolt, saying the party should defend its principles--most notably that Israel should be prepared to give up land in exchange for peace with the Arabs.

Death Knell for Party

One of those younger members, Chaim Ramon, believes the party is signing its own death sentence by tying itself to Likud. “We are committing slow suicide,” said Ramon, who thinks that Labor’s personality is being swallowed up by Likud. “We are giving legitimacy to Likud’s hard line. Let them put their policy in practice if they want. We should have no part of it.”

The lone negative vote Sunday among Labor members was cast by Science Minister Ezer Weizman, a maverick who believes Israel should open talks with the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Minor religious parties in the government voted in favor of the peace proposal.

With the political landscape now becalmed, attention returns to the progress of the peace plan itself--which had been stalled even before the government cracks began to widen. No known Palestinian leader either inside or outside the country has signed on to it.

Palestinians Feel Cheated

In part, the unwillingness of Israel to consider giving up the land has made Shamir’s plan hard for many Palestinians to swallow. They feel cheated, since they have, under American prodding, given up claims to what is now Israel proper.

Activists in the West Bank and Gaza have said that the PLO must also be included in talks--if only to ensure acquiescence of Palestinians living in other Arab countries in a final settlement.

Israel is concentrating on getting the Bush Administration to cut off talks with the PLO. The Shamir government contends that the U.S.-PLO talks undermine its own efforts to find local “interlocutors” to discuss peace.

Shamir aides have leaked reports that the prime minister has been holding meetings with private Palestinian businessmen who are willing to back his plan if only they could feel secure from PLO reprisals. Foreign Minister Moshe Arens said in a conversation last week that the American dialogue with the PLO gives the group undue standing and contributes to a “reign of terror” in the West Bank and Gaza.

Sunday’s Cabinet meeting also revealed some of the financial toll that the uprising is taking on defense needs. The Cabinet passed a special $75-million addition to the defense budget for use in putting down the rebellion. Otherwise, Rabin had warned, Israel’s capabilities of defending its border would be impaired.