Democratic Palestine : 28 (ص 25)

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Democratic Palestine : 28 (ص 25)

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~— Ly ey TeTIT
Protest in Washington D.C. against Shamir’s March visit to the USA.
Laborite, described Israeli withdrawal
from the (1967) occupied territories as a
«first class defeat» which would lead to
more «terrorism», and declared his
unconditional support to the continua-
tion of Israeli military rule in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip.
As the uprising escalated, Peres took
the opportunity on January 18th, to
call for early elections. Friction has
continued between the two blocs,
focusing on the Schultz plan which
Shamir has refused to bring to a vote in
the cabinet, because in his words,
«...people in Israeli are divided»
(Associated Press, March 16th). A poll
published in the Israeli newspaper
Hadashot a few days earlier indicated
that 46.2% of Israelis support the US
plan, while 36.7% oppose it. Aides to
Shamir are reportedly worried that
negotiations with King Hussein of
Jordan are irrelevant, since he has no
control over the Palestinians (Interna-
tional Herald Tribune, March 3rd). In
any case, by early March, Shamir had
indicated that the Likud too was ready
for early elections.
As of this writing, polls show that
the Israeli electorate is almost evenly
divided between the two major blocks;
several polls indicate a shift towards the
smaller parties on both ends of the
political spectrum, with the extreme
right gaining most. On January 26th,
the results of a straw poll conducted by
a Tel Aviv institute showed that Likud
would receive 33.6% of the votes versus
the 31.9% it received in 1984. KACH
would gain six Knesset seats versus the
one it has now. The Tehiyeh Party
would gain five seats versus the two it
has now. (This ultraright party had
three seats, but lost one when Rafael
Eitan withdrew to form his own party,
Ometz.)
Another poll was, published by the
Israeli daily Maariv on February 9th,
‘also indicating that the shift to the ex-
treme right was more pronounced than
that to the left. This poll showed that
the Tehiyeh Party would gain nine seats
in the event of new elections: KACH
would gain six, while HADASH (Front
for Peace and Equality) and the Pro-
gressive List for Peace together would
gain seven seats as opposed to the six
they have now. The Citizens Rights
Movement would gain six seats as op-
posed to the three it now has.
REALIGNMENTS
This picture is further blurred by a
series of political realignments, with
Likud taking the brunt of the losses. In
late January, Moshe Amirav, Central
Committee member of the Herut Party
(of Begin and the main component of
the Likud), tore up his membership
card, claiming that thousands concur
with his position of searching for a
new, practical path to peace, and would
leave Likud as well.
Earlier in January, the mayor of Tel
Aviv, Shlomo Lahet, a Likud member,
had called on the government to
«return» the West Bank and Gaza Strip
to Jordan, in order to find a political
settlement.
On February Ist, a new party was
formed - the Center Movement, com-
posed of Moshe Amirav and twenty
other former members of Herut, and
363 persons from Shinui, the Indepen-
dent Liberals and the Liberal Center
Party. The president of this new party
declared that it would be a centrist par-
ty, between the Likud and Labor, and
would not be a partner in the Likud,
but would ally with the party that calls
for peace negotiations via an interna- >
25

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