Word: knesset
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...though this may seem like political suicide - Barak runs the daily risk of losing his position to a Likud-led no-confidence vote - he can claim two key factors in his favor: The Palestinians would rather deal with him than with Ariel Sharon or Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Knesset may be less likely to oust him if he appears to have found a path to peace. It may be wishful thinking, but these days in the Middle East there isn't much else left...
...from the cabinet isn't exactly a body blow - part of his pique at Barak was precisely that he'd been sidelined in the negotiation process - but the eight parliamentary votes of Levy's party may be critical to Barak's survival. That much was clear Wednesday when the Knesset, on a preliminary reading, approved legislation calling for early elections, thus putting it on the agenda for a full vote. While the vote came immediately before the Israeli legislature moved into recess, a petition by a majority of legislators - 61 - can force it to reconvene to debate legislation. Barak ought...
...vultures were already circling after the Knesset (including some members of his own party) slapped down Barak by choosing opposition candidate Moshe Katsav for the ceremonial post of president over the prime minister's choice, Nobel Peace Prize winner and three-time prime minister Shimon Peres. That vote was as much a protest at the concessions Barak offered the Palestinians at Camp David as it was a reflection of widespread personal animosity toward Peres even within his own party, as well as of the backlash by Israel's Sephardic (immigrants from Arab countries) majority against the Ashkenazi (immigrants from Europe...
Ehud Barak's parliamentary setback can be easily repaired; it's the erosion of trust in his peacemaking ability that may cost him dearly. The Israeli leader suffered a dramatic 60-53 defeat in the Knesset Wednesday, after three of his coalition partners backed an opposition bill that would jeopardize chances of peace with Syria - the legislation requires that Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights be approved by a majority of eligiblevoters rather than simply those who bother to vote, making the necessary target more like 65 percent of the actual turnout. But the bill, which is still...
Washington may be formally committed to stamping out the proliferation of nuclear weapons everywhere, but the policy's one blind spot is Israel - and it may have to get even more blind following an unprecedented 45-minute debate in the Knesset Wednesday over Israel's as-yet unacknowledged nuclear weapons program. The debate was called by a left-wing Arab-Israeli legislator, Issam Mahoul, who wants whatever nukes exist, if they exist, to be dismantled. Cabinet ministers accused Mahoul of aiding Israel's enemies, and refused to answer his questions or budge from their traditional policy of "constructive ambiguity" - neither...