| The NYTimes Opening Campaign, Netanyahu Invokes 'Will of the Nation' By DEBORAH SONTAG J ERUSALEM, Dec. 10 — Having disappeared from the Israeli political scene for 19 months, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned tonight in full, media- savvy Netanyahu style. He flew in from abroad, swept onto the evening news and proclaimed his intention to recapture first the Likud Party leadership and then the office of prime minister. Back in the embrace of the television cameras, Mr. Netanyahu said Prime Minister Ehud Barak should not be allowed to frustrate "the will of the nation" by blocking his ability to run for office. Mr. Netanyahu said he would work to brush aside the political and legal obstacles to his candidacy that were placed in his path by Mr. Barak's resignation from office today. "The man who bypassed the will of the nation while in power is now bypassing its will in order to stay in power," Mr. Netanyahu said, giving a taste of his combat readiness. "He is not resigning in order to restore calm or stop the Palestinian violence or to return security to our people. Something else is happening here: the most cynical political trick in the history of Israel. He is resigning in order to prevent the people from freely and democratically electing a new prime minister and Parliament." Still, for Mr. Netanyahu, who commands a significant lead in opinion polls, becoming a candidate will not be as easy as announcing his intention to run. Mr. Barak indeed foiled his rival's expected candidacy in an unexpected political strategem this weekend, and it will take dexterous political and legal maneuvering by Mr. Netanyahu to survive Mr. Barak's move. On Saturday night Mr. Barak wrested the political initiative from a Parliament prepared to vote soon to dissolve and head toward new general elections in late spring. He announced that he would resign instead, forcing a special election within 60 days for prime minister alone. Under the law for special elections, the field of candidates is limited to members of Parliament, which excludes Mr. Netanyahu. Mr. Netanyahu, 51, quit his seat and the Likud leadership on the day that Mr. Barak, 58, overwhelmingly defeated him for prime minister in May 1999. He then turned over the reins of a weakened party to Ariel Sharon, 72, and fled politics for the life of a consultant and lecturer. In the Israeli nationalist camp, there has been a steady drumbeat for his return, especially since the eruption of the Palestinian uprising 10 weeks ago. But Mr. Sharon long ago discarded the idea that he was a mere caretaker, and he now hopes to run for prime minister as the Likud candidate — another stumbling block, although probably a minor one, for Mr. Netanyahu. Judging by the polls, Mr. Barak stands a much better chance against Mr. Sharon, which clearly influenced his decision to resign. Almost two weeks ago, when Parliament approved a draft bill to dissolve, Mr. Barak said he would not fight the legislators' desire to depose him. At the time, he also said he would not circumvent it by resigning to keep Mr. Netanyahu out of the race. At his televised news conference tonight, Mr. Netanyahu, whose nickname is Bibi, gave a dramatic reading of Mr. Barak's words from then: "I already beat Bibi, and I'm not afraid of him. The possibility of resigning in order to neutralize him did not even pass through my mind for a single moment." But during the subsequent two weeks, Mr. Barak said, he came to believe that many members of Parliament did not really want to undergo new elections. He said he had decided not to "drag" them through a new general election and to seek a fresh mandate from the people for himself alone. Those two weeks also featured a steady stream of opinion polls that showed him losing badly to Mr. Netanyahu. The polls showed Mr. Barak's Labor Party suffering a debilitating blow as well, and there was discord within Labor. Mr. Barak changed his mind. This afternoon, President Moshe Katsav accepted the prime minister's resignation, which takes effect on Tuesday, and congratulated him for seeking to determine at the polls whether the entire nation stands behind him. Mr. Barak, a tight smile darting across his face, quickly corrected the Israeli president. In 1999 he sought to be the leader of "ev-er-y-bo-dy," as his slogan said. Now, his sights are lowered. "A majority," he said. "For me, a majority of the people is enough." Later today, by an informal vote, the Labor Party's central committee swiftly chose Mr. Barak to be its candidate for prime minister. That ended a brief turbulent period within the party during which a dovish faction had considered running a candidate against him for party leader. With the election around the corner, there was no time for an internal race, and Mr. Barak stood unopposed in today's show-of-hands vote. Shimon Peres, a leader of the doves and a former prime minister, did not attend the meeting. "He was elected by a majority, and it was a democratic move," said Avraham Burg, the speaker of Parliament, who abandoned the idea of opposing the prime minister because of the accelerated election schedule. Mr. Barak thus successfully quelled potential opposition within own party, although there is still some discussion of the peace camp mounting a third-party candidate. Israeli Arab lawmakers are also considering fielding a candidate, which would be a serious blow to Mr. Barak. And several Likud lawmakers are contemplating mounting a challenge to Mr. Sharon if Mr. Netanyahu is not allowed to run. But Mr. Barak's most daunting opponent is Mr. Netanyahu. Mr. Netanyahu has two options for finding a way into the race. His followers are pursuing both. First they are seeking to amend the law governing special elections to allow someone who is not a member of Parliament to run for prime minister. That is a cumbersome route, because it requires fast-tracking a bill and then earning an absolute majority of the fractious 120-member Parliament. Such a bill could also face a court challenge; Israel has never had a prime minister who was not also a member of Parliament. Mr. Netanyahu seemed to be urging his followers down a different route. He said he believed that Parliament should continue what it started two weeks ago and take a final vote to dissolve itself. In that case, Parliament's legal adviser ruled today, Mr. Netanyahu would be allowed to run and elections for prime minister and Parliament would be held simultaneously. It is widely expected that Feb. 6 will be the election day. But Israeli political analysts said tonight that it was far from certain that there was majority backing for dissolving the house. Parties who fear that they will lose seats are not eager. For instance, Shas, the rigorously Orthodox party that represents working-class Sephardic Jews, is known to be reluctant. Leaders of Shas said they were awaiting a ruling from the rabbis who guide them. Indeed, spurred by Mr. Barak's maneuver, the political system spun into a frenzy of activity today as the prime minister's associates and opponents alike consulted legal advisers to determine what possible paths lay ahead. Many predicted that the complex legal issues would end up in court. Inevitably, then, Israelis noted that having built their suburbs and shopping malls on the American model, they were now mirroring the disarray in the American political system. "In an act of symbiotic identification, Barak has brought Israel into a constitutional frenzy reminiscent of what is taking place in America," Chemi Shalev wrote under the headline "Act of Kamikaze" in the newspaper Maariv. "The difference is that, one, there they have already had elections and, two, there they don't know who has lost yet." Similarly, Nahum Barnea, a columnist for Yediot Ahronot, writing that "no trick from the law books" should prevent Mr. Netanyahu from running if he is the favored right- wing candidate, asked, "What are we, America?" Latest interviews with Netanyahu (Hebrew) interviews with Netanyahu (english) Views of the current situation in Israel Netanyahu Watches and Waits for His Opening BIBI: THE BEST HOPE FOR PEACE Letters to Netanyahu |
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