Peace party left Barak's Cabinet to give peace process a chance

June 22, 2000
Web posted at: 9:34 p.m. EDT (0134 GMT)

In this story: Onus now on Shas 'No one will remember these shenanigans' RELATED STORIES, SITES

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Ironically, it took Israel's peace party walking out the door to keep the possibility of peace on the table.

In what resembled a highly choreographed dance, the dovish Meretz party withdrew from Prime Minister Ehud Barak's coalition government Thursday to entice the ultra-orthodox Shas party to stay, averting a crisis that likely would have toppled the government.

Shas had tendered the resignations of its Cabinet members two days ago, which would have taken effect Thursday, over demands that Barak and the Israeli government provide more funding to save the party's bankrupt religious school system.

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So on Tuesday the left-leaning Meretz party offered to step aside if it would help Barak reach a settlement with Shas.

Meretz followed through with the resignations on Thursday, and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual and political mentor of the Shas, ordered his Cabinet ministers to reverse their earlier resignations.

Shas had engaged in brinkmanship before, threatening Barak with pullouts on several occasions. Those threats had been settled in the past, but this crisis erupted at a critical moment for Barak, whose peace negotiators were in Washington attempting to reach a deal with the Palestinians on the framework for a final status peace agreement.

"What Barak has done with Shas was to say, 'Back my peace policies and I will allow your education system to flourish.' Meretz got in the way," said Leslie Susser of the Jerusalem Report. "With Meretz out of the way, Barak hopes the alliance between him and Shas will work the way they intended."

Meretz says it will continue supporting Barak's peace strategy from outside the government, and the onus is on Shas to prove they do support peace with the Palestinians.

With Meretz gone, "I think the prime minister will be able to continue with the peace process, and that is what we want," said Rabbi Shlomo Ben-Izri, a Shas Cabinet minister.

'No one will remember these shenanigans'

Barak's supporters say his peace-making capacity won't be inhibited because his centrist coalition now resembles that of his right-wing predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Mr. Barak will be able to build on a stable coalition, and though some say he hasn't shown leadership, he is a very strong leader," said Cabinet minister Yuli Tamir. "No one will remember these shenanigans once he has been able to move peace forward."

Correspondent Jerrold Kessel contributed to this report.

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