World

Netanyahu Under Siege

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

December 28, 1998 / 7:31 AM EST / CBS

Trying to stem a wave of defections, embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged top Cabinet ministers Wednesday not to leave his Likud Party ahead of May elections.

Netanyahu also played down a veiled threat by his closest political ally, Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon, to run for prime minister.

"We are cooperating fully to win the elections," Netanyahu said on Israel radio, referring to Sharon. "I intend with his help ... to lead the government forward."
Netanyahu is fighting what polls suggest may be an uphill battle to win re-election May 17 -- although polls that predicted former Prime Minister Shimon Peres would win Israel's last vote were grievously mistaken.

Netanyahu faces a growing field of challengers, including members of his own Likud Party who either seek to wrest the party's nomination from him or plan to run on their own slate.

Netanyahu's former foreign minister, David Levy, is negotiating the terms of a political partnership with opposition leader Ehud Barak. His agricultural minister, Rafael Eitan, has announced that he is seeking the premiership. Eitan heads the hawkish Tsomet Party which ran on a joint slate with Likud in 1996.

Two key Cabinet members from Likud, Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai and Communications Minister Limor Livnat, are considering leaving the party to join a centrist slate being formed by a popular former army chief of staff, Amnon Lipkin-Shahak.

Mordechai's departure would be a serious blow for Netanyahu and underscore his growing political isolation. Mordechai is the most popular minister in Netnayhu's Cabinet.

If Mordechai quits the Likud, Sharon might make his move and challenge Netanyahu for the premiership.

Asked Wednesday what message he had for Mordechai and Livnat, Netanyahu said: "Stay in your (political) home."

Israeli President Ezer Weizman, meanwhile, came under fire after the Ha'aretz daily reported he had said Barak and Lipkin-Shahak should join forces, presumably to be in a better position to beat Netanyahu. The job of president in Israel is largely ceremonial and he is expected to remain above the political fray.

Weizman did not comment on the Ha'aretz report, but said Wednesday he would try everything in his power to get the peace agreement with the Palestinians back on track.

"My message today is that peace is paramount," Weizman said.

Netanyahu froze implementation of the Wye River land-for-security agreement last month, citing Palestinian violations of the accord.

Palestinian officials have lambasted Netanyahu's peace freeze as a product of internal political maneuvering.

Lipkin-Shahak and Barak, also a former army chief -- and and Netanyahu's former army commander -- are seen as staunch supporters of peace agreements with the Palestinians. Both men are considered proteges of slain former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.