Humiliating Defeat Apparently Ends a 40-Year Career : Eban Dropped From Fall Ballot by Israeli Labor Party

Abba Eban, one of Israel’s most durable leaders, suffered a humiliating defeat Wednesday in the Labor Party’s selection of candidates for the fall elections, apparently ending a 40-year career in public life.

Eban, who served as Israel’s first ambassador to the United States and as envoy to the United Nations, as well as foreign minister under the late Golda Meir, was twice spurned by the Labor Party’s 1,200-member central committee for a place on the party ticket for election to the country’s Knesset, or Parliament.

Eban, 73, who has been a member of Parliament for nearly 30 years, was the first victim of a campaign to democratize the election process by removing the choice of candidates from a small group of party leaders, giving more of a voice to the party rank and file.

Has ‘Other Options’

Ironically, the British-educated Eban is far more popular in the United States than in Israel, where he is regarded as aloof and a political loner. A brilliant orator in eight languages, Eban speaks Hebrew with a heavy foreign accent and is frequently the victim of Israeli sarcastic humor.

“My relations with the party have been ambivalent for over 40 years. The democratization is not built for individuals,” Eban told the Jerusalem Post. “I don’t have to be where I am not wanted. I have other options.”

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who is the leader of the Labor Party, said after the vote that he was “very sorry. I did what I could.” Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek was quoted as saying: “We will be sorry about this.”

Since 1984, Eban has headed the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, one of the most sensitive jobs in the 120-seat Parliament. He has also become one of Israel’s leading doves, advocating a negotiated settlement with Israel’s Arab neighbors.

The Labor Alignment has been in coalition with the right-wing Likud Bloc for the past four years, with Likud leader Yitzhak Shamir, currently the prime minister. He and Peres switched jobs under a coalition agreement.

Likud Heavily Favored

After six months of disturbances by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, opinion polls heavily favor Likud to win the November election outright. Peres has advocated negotiating a settlement in an international peace conference, while Shamir has rejected the idea and is regarded as being tougher.

After Wednesday’s vote, Eban complained about the way the system had been changed. Under Labor rules, six seats are “reserved” for such party leaders as the head of the Histadrut labor federation.

In the first round of voting, Eban received only 480 of the 1,200 votes, finishing 16th in a field of 17 candidates. The top 10 candidates are chosen in each balloting until the candidate list is filled.

In a second round of voting, Eban polled only 398 votes and finished in 18th place.

Although he was not widely liked, the delegates fell silent Wednesday as he entered the Labor Party convention after his humiliation.

After serving as Israeli ambassador in Washington, Eban was elected to the Knesset for the first time in 1959 and has been a member ever since. He served various Labor governments as foreign minister, deputy prime minister and education minister.

A spokesman for Eban said that after leaving politics, he is expected to finish work on a U.S. television series as well as two books.

One political commentator said it is possible that Eban could succeed Chaim Herzog as Israel’s president, a largely ceremonial post.