Turbine Generates Controversy in Israel

The government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was plunged into crisis late Friday, but not by the peace process, the severe drought or even a troubling summer crime wave.

Instead, the first real threat to Barak’s 5-week-old coalition came in the form of a 300-ton electric turbine, after the government defied warnings from Israel’s largest religious party and decided to transport the giant piece of equipment to a power plant during the Jewish Sabbath. Police had recommended that the part be moved on the holy day to minimize traffic disruptions.

Leaders of Shas, an ultra-Orthodox party that is the second-largest member of Barak’s coalition, threatened this week to quit the government if the turbine was moved on the Sabbath, which begins at sundown on Fridays and lasts until dusk Saturdays. Jewish religious law prohibits all forms of labor, including driving, on the holy day.

Shas has 17 votes in Barak’s 75-vote ruling coalition; if the party’s legislators decide to bolt the government, Barak would be left without a majority in the 120-seat parliament.

Early in his administration and focused on the peace process, Barak had seemed reluctant to provoke a coalition crisis. He said the turbine issue was a professional, not political, question. But Shas vehemently disagreed.

In the most explicit threat to bring down the government, Infrastructure Minister Eli Suissa of the Shas Party warned Thursday that if the turbine was moved on the Sabbath, “I don’t believe anyone with a kippa [skullcap] will be willing to sit at the government’s table.”

The debate over the turbine issue, which has raged for more than a week, touches one of the deepest schisms in Israeli society--that between ultra-Orthodox and secular Jews. Many Israelis call it the most troubling conflict facing their society, outweighing even the historic one between Arabs and Israelis.

And even Friday afternoon, the turbine seemed unlikely to go anywhere soon, with the dispute continuing.

But suddenly, after the Sabbath began Friday, the flatbed truck carrying the massive part--about 50 yards long by 10 yards wide--lumbered away from the Tel Aviv-area manufacturing plant and began its 50-mile journey south to the port city of Ashkelon. It is estimated that the journey would take about 16 hours.

As it rolled away, a small group of secular Israelis applauded. A short time later, when it reached a religious neighborhood, several ultra-Orthodox residents shook their fists.

However, most Shas supporters--who do not watch television, listen to the radio or use the telephone during the Sabbath--probably were unaware of the decision.

A response from Shas’ leaders seems likely to come soon after the holy day ends today, but it was not immediately clear what the response will be.