Barak Agrees to Move Up Israel Elections

Going on the political offensive, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak agreed Tuesday to call early elections, a move that stunned parliament and short-circuited an effort by the right-wing opposition to oust his government.

The decision was classic Barak--bold and uncertain of success--and opened the door to a possible rematch with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Barak defeated in a landslide just a year and a half ago.

Left-wing lawmakers praised the move, saying it gives Barak time to try to quell the violence that has raged in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for two months and to reach an agreement with the Palestinians that he could put before voters.

“I hope that Barak dedicates the next few months until the elections to a supreme effort to win the battle for peace,” said Yossi Sarid, leader of the Meretz Party. “His chances are good. If he wins this battle, he will win the battle for elections too.”

But experts say that Barak, who came to office on a platform for peace, will need an actual deal, and not a mere lessening of the violence, to win over voters.

Leaders from Barak’s One Israel Party and the opposition Likud Party met later in the night to discuss a date for elections and said they probably will be held in May, more than two years earlier than scheduled. Another meeting was planned for today.

With violence raging between Israel and the Palestinians, tensions mounting on the border with Lebanon, peace talks with Syria frozen and his public approval ratings dismal, Barak’s move was fraught with political danger.

But in a combative speech to parliament, delivered over the jeers of raucous lawmakers who had denounced his policies and his leadership in hours of debate Tuesday, Barak insisted that he welcomes the chance to go before the voters.

“I do not flinch from elections,” Barak said. “I say, if you want elections, let there be elections for prime minister and for the Knesset,” as parliament is known. “But in this time of emergency,” he added, “he who throws the country into an election campaign assumes a very heavy responsibility.”

Likud members gave one another high-fives as Barak began to speak and word swept through the chamber that he would call early elections. After the speech, a smiling Barak shook hands with Likud leader Ariel Sharon and accepted congratulations from members of his government before leaving the hall.

The Knesset then passed with wide majorities all five bills dissolving parliament, although the move by then was largely symbolic.

“Mr. Barak failed as the Israeli prime minister,” said Silvan Shalom, a Likud leader who sponsored one of the dissolution bills. “He didn’t bring us peace. He didn’t bring us security.”

Azmi Bishara, an Israeli Arab lawmaker who has been harshly critical of Barak for failing to reach an agreement with the Palestinians, said that Barak’s only hope of winning reelection lies in achieving a settlement with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

“Tonight,” Bishara said, “was Barak’s first campaign speech.”

A senior advisor to Arafat reacted cautiously to Barak’s move. “What happened is a new development which will reflect on the peace process,” Nabil abu Rudaineh said. “The [Palestine Liberation Organization] signed agreements with Israeli governments and not parties. We hope to see an Israeli government committed to the peace process and implementation of what was signed.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami said the government will work to reach an agreement with the Palestinians “until election day.”

Recently, there has been “a more serious attempt by the Palestinian leadership to bring about an end to this state of violence,” Ben-Ami told CNN. The government is responding by easing some elements of the closure it has enforced for weeks on the West Bank and Gaza.

Barak’s government has been in trouble since the summer, when key members of his coalition quit over his willingness to make concessions to the Palestinians on sovereignty in disputed Jerusalem and territory in the West Bank. His approval ratings plunged after an Israeli-Palestinian summit at Camp David ended in failure and violence erupted at the end of September in the West Bank, Gaza and, later, Israel itself.

Recent polls have indicated that Sharon or Netanyahu--who temporarily quit politics after Barak defeated him but who is expected to oppose Sharon for the Likud leadership--would beat Barak were elections held now. But six months is a lifetime in Israeli politics.

“I believe I will be the one to run against Barak,” Sharon said after the Knesset session.

In fact, both Barak and Sharon are expected to face leadership challenges. Israel Television reported late Tuesday that Foreign Minister Ben-Ami and Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg are expected to take on Barak for his party’s leadership.

Barak gave an impassioned defense of his government’s record in his speech Tuesday. He said it includes ending Israel’s long occupation of southern Lebanon and turning around an economy that Barak said was mired in recession under Netanyahu.

“I am proud of what I have done and what my government has done,” Barak said.

He said that he had tried hard to put together a coalition with Likud but that he had been rebuffed by Sharon. Barak said Sharon had insisted that the prime minister walk away from concessions made to Arafat at the Camp David summit and give Sharon veto power in peacemaking efforts with the Palestinians.

But Barak’s decision to call early elections came after he watched the majority in favor of dissolving parliament grow during the day, with Arab legislators who had traditionally supported his government joining right-wing opposition parties in their effort to bring it down.

In the end, Barak, a former general who made his reputation in the army as the head of an elite unit known for its daring exploits, chose the path that enabled him to take the offensive. But he faces an uphill battle for reelection, with polls showing that large majorities in two key blocs of voters who helped him win last time--Israeli Arabs and Russian immigrants--have defected.

Israeli Arabs blame Barak for the army’s harsh response to demonstrators in the Palestinian territories and to Israeli Arab demonstrators inside Israel. Russians fault the prime minister for failing to quell the violence in the territories and for failing to carry out reforms that would break the hold that ultra-Orthodox Jews have on Israeli life.

“Barak lost his majority in the Knesset a long time ago, during the summer,” said Likud lawmaker Danny Naveh, “and it was quite obvious we were going to move ahead the legislation for new elections during the winter session.”