Israeli Cabinet Shifts, OKs Egypt Contact : Approval of Weizman Mission Puts End to Government Crisis

Prime Minister Shimon Peres won belated Cabinet approval today to send controversial envoy Ezer Weizman to Egypt on a delicate diplomatic mission, ending a crisis that had threatened Israel’s fragile coalition government.

One day after the Cabinet refused permission for the visit, it reversed itself in a special telephone vote to sanction the trip by Weizman. The margin of the vote was not immediately known.

Weizman, an architect of the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian Camp David peace treaty, planned to leave tonight for Cairo and return Thursday.

Peres has used the charismatic Weizman, a former defense minister and now a minister without portfolio, as a key Israeli contact with Cairo. It is believed that Weizman plans to try to arrange a summit meeting between Peres and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, slated to become prime minister in 18 months under the coalition government’s charter, objected to the trip on the ground that Weizman was usurping the Foreign Ministry’s duties.

“Shamir does not like the decision to send Weizman but he will not create a government crisis,” Cabinet Secretary Yosi Beilin said.

It was clear, however, that Shamir had successfully displayed a show of strength against his government rivals and, having done so, agreed to let Weizman’s trip go on as planned.

The Cabinet’s 10-9 vote against the visit Sunday amounted to a stinging rebuke for Peres, who took office last Sept. 13 under an arrangement in which he would serve as prime minister for 25 months and Shamir would take over the post for the following 25 months.

Political sources quoted by Israeli newspapers today said neither Peres nor Shamir would gain anything by torpedoing their fragile coalition. But the controversy still unleashed a good deal of bitterness on both sides.