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========================== F  r  e  e  d  o  m ==========================
  auto-info: help@alquds.net  >>>> Linking Palestinians & Their Friends
=========================================================================

**************************************************
BibiWATCH -  Email Edition **************************************************
27 October 1997 / Number 67 / Copyright 1997 by Eric Lee
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
To respond to articles here, write to:  ericlee@eindor.org.il 
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The next 65 days

by Eric Lee

On top of this page [on the website] I've put a counter. It's going to tick
off the days one by one until the last day of the year, 31 December 1997.
With hard work, solid planning and a little luck, by that date the
Netanyahu government should have fallen.

The next 65 days are going to see an unprecedented campaign in Israel --
and not only in Israel -- to bring down the Netanyahu government. The fate
of Israel and of the entire Middle East hangs in the balance.

This "autumn offensive" is taking place on many fronts, among them:

* The Knesset. Today begins the winter session, and the Opposition is
promising a no-holds-barred parliamentary offensive. They plan to follow
Netanyahu's policy speech with a vote of no confidence. The pressure in the
Knesset is of primary importance -- if Netanyahu is to be brought down
using the conventional parliamentary method, the Opposition has to pull
together the votes here.

*  Within the Likud. For more than a year now, we've been watching
developments in the Likud, and particularly within David Levy's Gesher
faction, with interest. As we approach the debate on Netanyahu's
"Thatcherite" (he uses that term) budget, we can expect tremendous pressure
to be exerted on Levy and his people to break ranks. Furthermore, the
entire leadership of the Likud itself is now in open rebellion against the
party's titular leader. Communications Minister Limor Livnat and Tel Aviv
mayor Roni Milo are leading the fight against Netanyahu's plan to end
primary elections in the party. Former Ministers Dan Meridor and Binyamin
Begin are plotting continuously to get back into power in a Netanyahu-less
government. The men who brought Bibi into the top echelons of Israeli
politics -- Moshe Arens and Yitzhak Shamir -- are leading the public
campaign against direct elections to the post of Prime Minister in a clear
assault on Netanyahu. The Likud itself may turn out to be Bibi's worst
enemy in the next 65 days.

*  In the streets. The November 8th peace demonstration in Tel Aviv (in
honor of the second anniversary of the Rabin killing) is of critical
importance. The entire population must be mobilized as never before.
Israeli leftists tend not to understand this, but taking over the streets
with a wave of mass protests is a critical component of a campaign which
will bring down the government. We needn't look for examples of how this
works from other countries. The experience of the Israeli right, with their
incessant protests against the Oslo accords and their virtual control over
the streets in the months leading up to Rabin's assassination must not be
forgotten. Without violence, and without threats of violence, we must learn
from their example.

* In workplaces and inside the Histadrut. As I've already said, the
struggle over the budget is going to be central to defeating Netanyahu. The
Histadrut, with its openly political strikes and its constant harping on
the theme that this government is bad for working people, senior citizens
and the poor, plays a neglected but vital role in the coalition that now
commands majority support in this country. The democratic left must  find
ways to unite those struggling against Netanyahu over the issues of war and
peace with those struggling to preserve their pensions and jobs. Once those
two vast social movements are linked together, they become an unstoppable
force.

*  In the diaspora. Never before has the Jewish people been so divided as
now, and though Netanyahu has no personal interest in increasing the
authority of the Orthodox establishment in this country, he has no choice.
He knows that it was haredi money, power, and voters which swept him into
office. He has no choice but to cave in to their every demand. The response
of American Jews has been expressions of outrage. Until now, they have
hesitated to intervene directly in Israeli political affairs, although that
is changing. With the support of the American Jews and other diaspora
communities, the Israeli Opposition will triumph.

*  In the Clinton administration. Finally, it seems as if Washington has
had enough of Netanyahu's deceptions and foot-dragging on the peace
process. Bibi lied to the American Secretary of State just as he lied to
Egyptian President Mubarak and to King Hussein of Jordan. He continues to
expand settlements even as he promises a settlement freeze. There's
evidence that the White House is not even prepared for Netanyahu to come
for a visit. That American anger -- which is justified -- is one more
component in the coalition which unites the vast majority of Israelis with
international public opinion, and whose message is clear: To move forward
with the peace process, Netanyahu must be removed as prime minister of
Israel.

Those are some of the fronts where the battle is raging today, 65 days
before Netanyahu must pass his budget. Tension is so high that President
Weizmann has postponed his trip to China in order to be here in December,
which is when push is expected to come to shove.

The pressure will build and build until we welcome in the new year, 1998,
with new elections -- and an end to the nightmare of the Netanyahu era.

***

To order Eric Lee's book, "The Labour Movement and the Internet: The New
Internationalism" at 20% off cover price:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0745311148/thelabourmovemenA

***


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