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Jerrold Kessel: Israel's foreign policy unlikely to change
(CNN) -- The Labor faction of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition government has threatened to withdraw over a dispute about money earmarked for settlements. CNN correspondent Jerrold Kessel, who is in Jerusalem, spoke to CNN anchor Carol Costello on Wednesday about the crisis. COSTELLO: Washington will be watching today as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon faces his worst political crisis to date. His coalition government appears to be falling apart over the prime minister's plan to pour millions of dollars into building more Jewish settlements. Jerrold Kessel joins us from the Knesset in Jerusalem, where the action is set to take place. Jerrold, why should people here in the United States care about Prime Minister Sharon's domestic problems? KESSEL: Well, of course, it will make a difference. It always makes a difference of who is in power in Israel, whether it's a right-wing government, a center-left government and so forth. But at the moment, we have this national coalition government that is headed by the right wing, and Mr. Sharon really has been calling all of the shots. And if there will be an election, what will the outcome be? We're not quite into that yet, because what we've got here really reminds us of what former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said about Israeli politics and Israeli foreign policy. He said, Israel has only a foreign policy, which is a domestic policy. In other words, what happens on the domestic front affects foreign policy. And you could say at this stage in this crisis, it's really about party politics dictating everything. But in terms of affecting Israel's foreign policy ... the only real foreign policy issue is the ... United States' war on terror, Israel's support for that, and the question of the United States' possible action against Iraq, where there is absolutely universal support ... in Israel, (it) really makes no difference who is in power. But having said that, and that's probably the reason why the Israelis think they can indulge in this domestic politics at the moment, the question (is) whether they should go to elections or not. Mr. Sharon has been playing that Iraqi card, saying this is no time for a political crisis when there is about to be possible action in Iraq. The opposition, though ... (is) not buying it. We'll see who comes out on top. For the moment, it looks as if ... (there) could be elections. But (they) probably won't affect Israel's foreign policy and the support for the United States in any tangible way. Carol. COSTELLO: All right, Jerrold Kessel, thank you.
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