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Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy resigns |
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August 3, 2000
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy submitted his resignation and parliament approved early elections in a preliminary vote Wednesday, as Prime Minister Ehud Barak's coalition unraveled further over his peace policies. Barak will be able to cling to power at least until late October, since parliament is going into a three-month summer recess after Wednesday's turbulent session. Barak said he was not deterred by the setbacks and would press on with his agenda, including peace talks with the Palestinians. The two sides have until Sept. 13 to reach a treaty, and both have said that even though last month's Mideast summit at Camp David ended without agreement, new ground was broken there. Once a treaty is concluded, Barak could call early elections and turn the vote into a peace referendum. Barak, who was elected by a landslide only 15 months ago, played down the significance of Wednesday's 61-51 vote on early elections. Asked whether there would be elections soon, he said: "Absolutely not." The next scheduled ballot is in 2003. However, the opposition scored an important victory by getting an absolute majority of the 120 legislators to back the early elections bill. In Wednesday's preliminary reading, only a simple majority was required. However, the bill needs an absolute majority in three more readings, to be held once the Knesset returns from recess in October, and the opposition demonstrated Wednesday that it can muster the necessary votes. Among those voting against Barak were several of his former Cabinet ministers, including Levy, who had submitted his resignation just moments earlier. Barak has said he would try to reshuffle his coalition in the coming days. However, Wednesday's vote suggested that the defectors, including the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, were not considering a return to the government. Three hawkish parties, including Shas, had left the coalition even before Barak flew to Camp David, saying they feared he would succumb to U.S. pressure and make too many concessions. Barak wandered around the parliament plenum Wednesday as a roll-call vote was held. He smiled and appeared unperturbed. After Levy cast his vote, Barak sat down next to him in the row of seats reserved for Cabinet ministers. The two spoke cordially and even shook hands. However, in a news conference in parliament just an hour earlier, Levy accused Barak of having betrayed him. The foreign minister, a one-time hardliner who switched political camps ahead of the May 1999 election, said Barak never let on how far he was willing to go in giving in to Palestinian demands. Levy said that at Camp David, the prime minister agreed to a de facto division of Jerusalem, the city claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians as a capital. "For the first time, on the issue of Jerusalem, we were prepared to divide Jerusalem, and even at this moment there is no way to back away from this promise," said Levy. In his election campaign, Barak had pledged he would never agree to a division of the city. After returning from Camp David, he said that while many ideas were raised, Israel did not commit itself to specific proposals in the talks. "Until now, we have not made any concessions. Nothing is signed. Nothing is on paper," Barak told The Associated Press. `We are still quite far (from an agreement) and we need a certain flexibility from the other side." In the midst of his political troubles, Barak claimed a diplomatic coup, saying U.S. President Bill Clinton plans to move his country's embassy to disputed Jerusalem before he leaves office on Jan. 20. However, U.S. officials would only repeat Clinton's comments made last week, that he is reviewing the option of moving the embassy and would make a decision by the end of the year. After the summit talks collapsed, Clinton expressed concern that the Palestinians would make good on their pledge to declare statehood unilaterally on Sept. 13, the treaty deadline, if there is no agreement for a final peace deal. Clinton suggested that this would prompt him to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Congress has mandated the move, but Clinton in the past invoked an option to delay it to avert damage to peace prospects. Some militant Islamic groups have threatened to target U.S. diplomats if the United States moves its embassy. The status of Jerusalem is the main sticking point in Israel-Palestinian talks. |
