Word: knesset
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...office in 1977, and the seventh since he won re-election last June. But this time his chances of survival were far from certain: two members of his own Likud coalition had just defected to the Labor alignment. Still, as he wound up his 20-minute speech in the Knesset, Begin confidently asserted: "The government will not fall today." Then, bracing himself against the cane that he has been using since he broke his hip last November, Begin stepped down from the rostrum to await the roll call. He turned out to be right: by a vote...
Prime Minister Menachem Begin appeared to have weathered a parliamentary crisis that had broken out the week before. His Likud coalition, sustained by a mere one-vote majority in the 120-member Knesset, had been whiplashed by the two explosive issues confronting Israel at the moment: the forthcoming withdrawal from the Sinai and the government's repressive treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Two weeks ago, the Begin government barely survived a no-confidence motion that ended in a 58-58 tie vote. But for a budget vote last week, Begin gained the tacit support...
...this exuberant rebirth is, in a strict sense, illegal. Not a single nation in the world recognizes the Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem. And when the Knesset voted in 1980 that a reunited Jerusalem was, in the words of Prime Minister Menachem Begin, "the eternal capital of our country, our people, our faith, our civilization," the United Nations promptly voted that it was no such thing. Hence the departure, under strong Arab pressure, of the Dutch diplomats...
When the Prime Minister had at last finished, the chamber fell silent with expectation. Asked Speaker Menachem Savidor: "Who is in favor?" And when Druckman quickly raised his hand, along with 57 other members of the Knesset, the 58-58 tie vote was inevitable. His bad leg propped on a hassock under the bench, Begin could not look behind him to see how Druckman had voted. His Deputy Prime Minister, Simcha Ehrlich, broke the news to him. Begin then turned in his seat, grimacing, to stare at Druckman for a moment. When Savidor announced the vote, Begin rose...
...there was a risk: Labor's Peres just might be able to get a majority in the 120-seat Knesset by wooing some tiny parties in the Likud coalition that were souring on Begin for one reason or another. This possibility caused Begin to put the question of resignation to his Cabinet, and the Cabinet voted 12 to 6 he should remain in office. Begin followed the Cabinet's counsel. Sniffed the anti-Begin newspaper Ha'aretz: "On this occasion the Prime Minister outdid himself in swallowing his own words." But most Israelis believe that Begin will...