Frank Viviano Writes     Israel at odds over U.S. war Far right party leaves coalition -- military angry at politicians Jerusalem -- Under unremitting pressure to assist the United States in its war with Osama bin Laden, Israel's fragile political consensus appears to be crumbling.   A bitter -- and very public -- confrontation between the Ministry of Defense and the army, which erupted over the weekend, was followed yesterday by the abrupt withdrawal of a far right party from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition government.   The National Union Party, which controls seven seats in the Israeli Knesset, said it was leaving to protest an Israeli troop pullback from Palestinian areas in the West Bank town of Hebron, and because it opposed moves to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.   The government's decision to withdraw troops from Hebron also has revealed a level of animosity between the military and the elected government that analysts say is unprecedented. And it reflects, they say, deepening divisions among Israel's ruling conservatives over the nation's response to the U.S.-led war on terrorism and the year-old Palestinian intifada. Frictions inside Sharon's Cabinet burst into open conflict on Sunday, when army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz issued an official statement condemning the troop withdrawal, which had been promised as part of an attempt to restore an Israeli-Palestinian truce.   The truce moves came in response to intense prodding from the Bush administration, which is determined to reduce Palestinian-Israeli tensions while trying to maintain support from Arab and Muslim governments for its war on bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. In a press release circulated by the army, Mofaz declared his firm opposition to the withdrawal, and to any easing of Palestinian conditions that would "make it difficult to provide security for Israeli citizens and soldiers. " Public opposition by an army commander to government orders is almost unheard of in Israel, where civilian control over the military is a fundamental principle.   "There is no place for such a maneuver in a democracy," an angry Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer replied in an official statement of his own. Ben- Eliezer reportedly called for the immediate dismissal of Mofaz, who is scheduled to serve as army chief until July 2002. In the end, he agreed to "severely reprimand" the Israeli Defense Force commander, rather than change the army's command structure at a moment of high regional tensions. The incident sent shock waves through the Israeli political world. Former Justice Minister Yossi Bellin said Mofaz's public announcement of army opposition to a government order amounted to "a near putsch."   The army had been sent into Hebron on Oct. 4 to protect a small Jewish enclave in the overwhelmingly Arab city, which is technically under the sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority. Representatives of Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories were quick to back Mofaz. "To pull the army out now is criminal," Orit Struck, a spokeswoman for the Hebron enclave, told the Jerusalem Post.   Sharon only learned of Mofaz's statement at a Cabinet meeting hours after its release to the press. According to witnesses at the meeting, a shouting match erupted between the prime minister and other conservative members of the governing coalition, most notably Education Minister Limor Livnat and Uzi Landau, the hard-line public security minister.   "You are not more nationalistic than I am, not even by one centimeter," Sharon reportedly screamed at the two and other Cabinet members who supported Mofaz's position.   Israeli newspapers speculate that the conflict may reflect political ambitions by Mofaz, who is close to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sharon's archrival for the Likud Party leadership. Yesterday, Netanyahu defended Mofaz and said he, too, was against the withdrawal from Hebron. Several hundred Likud Party members have signed a petition to the party's central committee that "opposes a Palestinian state west of the Jordan." The petition was circulated recently by the Our Way is Your Way Movement, a group associated with Netanyahu.   In off-the-record conversations with journalists, Mofaz had made it clear two weeks ago that he also opposed the resumption of meetings between Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.   The Israeli far right regards the meetings and troop withdrawals as the latest in a series of "capitulations" to U.S. demands for a negotiated settlement. Accusing Sharon of breaking his promises, Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi, a member of the National Union, said in the Knesset yesterday, "We do not want to be in the Oslo government," referring to the interim peace accords signed in 1993. Even before Washington began its war on terrorism, Sharon had reluctantly conceded the need for an independent Palestinian state and promised to halt the establishment of further Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories, where more than 200,000 Israelis now live.   The pressure intensified on Oct. 2, when President Bush became the first Republican president to endorse the creation of a Palestinian state. Yesterday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair made an even stronger endorsement than Bush of "a viable Palestinian state." Speaking after a meeting in London with Yasser Arafat, Blair added that it is "time to put right the injustices of the past," wording that appeared to echo Arafat's assertions that Palestinians are victims of Israeli expansionism.   After the National Union's announced withdrawal from his governing coalition, Sharon told the Israeli parliament, "I am not subject to any pressure, and I do not intend to make any compromise on issues that endanger Israel's security." Then he said to National Union leaders, "You have caused me great distress. To Arafat, on the other hand, you have given great satisfaction, . . . You made his day." back to index page     back to