Word: knesset
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...shall not hold our fire indefinitely. If the terrorists keep on shooting, we shall not stand idly by." So declared Prime Minister Menachem Begin as he tried to reassure a worried Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee of the Knesset that Israel's security had not been unduly compromised by the ceasefire with the Palestinians. Begin's gruff tone-and the contentious nature of the meeting-reflected Israel's mood last week as it counted the costs, military and political, of the 14 days of fighting and the uneasy peace that followed...
...struggle for power between Prime Minister Menachem Begin, 67, head of the ruling Likud bloc, and Shimon Peres, 57, leader of the Labor Party. Both men immediately started to try to put together a coalition government that would control at least 61 seats, the number needed for a Knesset majority. Begin clearly had the best chance of succeeding, but the likelihood was that any government's margin would be so slim that new elections might have to be called within a year...
...were arguing that Labor should let Begin have the job again and then stand back and watch him fail as he tried to cope with the country's mounting economic problems, like an annual inflation rate of 130%. Predicts Michael Harish, 44, an energetic Labor member of the Knesset: "Soon all those who are shouting 'Begin, Begin' will be demonstrating in the streets...
Voters deserted the plethora of small, frequently eccentric parties (31 in all contested the election) that usually garnered 40 or more seats in the Knesset and thus provided a sizable swing vote on crucial legislation. This time the splinter parties got only 24 seats as voters rallied to either Labor or Likud. In the final analysis, though, it was Labor that demonstrated the most significant gains. The party managed to overcome deep divisions of its own to maintain its following among the secular-minded professional and urban population, and showed impressive strength (up to 30% in some places) among Israel...
...greeted with understandable caution in Washington. State Department officials agree with their colleagues abroad that a weak Begin will be unwilling to take risks for peace and will be even more aligned than now with the hard-line religious parties that would have to guarantee his majority in the Knesset. But the Reagan Administration also views Israel as a strategic asset, as Secretary of State Alexander Haig puts it, in forming a bulwark in the Middle East against Soviet influence, an aim that concerns the Administration more than reviving the Camp David talks about Palestinian autonomy. Administration officials believe that...