Ariel Sharon was seeking the backing of the far right to keep him in power last night after the Labour party walked out of his national unity government and lifted the constraints on one of the most hardline prime ministers in Israel’s history.
Labour, a key partner and relatively restraining influence in the 19-month-old administration forged to confront the upsurge in Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians, quit in a dispute over Jewish settlements in the occupied territories.
Sharon has until Monday to win over the support of minority parties in the knesset to keep his Likud administration in power. If he succeeds, it is likely to push the government even further to the right and leave it highly unstable.
If he fails, Sharon will be obliged to hold an election within 90 days with no assurance that he will be Likud’s candidate for prime minister, even though his party appears certain to win.
His aides said he had wanted to avoid an early election, in part because it could coincide with an American-led war on Iraq.
The Labour ministers — led by the party leader and defence minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer — ostensibly quit the 19-month-old unity government over the funding of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza at the expense of benefits to the poor, pensioners and single-parent families in Israel.
The resignations pre-empted Sharon’s threat in the knesset yesterday to dismiss the Labour ministers if they voted against an austerity budget to address Israel’s worst economic crisis for decades.
But the political crisis had been brewing for weeks as the Labour leadership sought to find ways to distinguish the party from the administration it has served. Although the national unity government is popular with voters, an election will have to be held within a year in any case and Likud is running high in the polls.
A visibly angry Sharon confronted his erstwhile defence minister in the knesset after the government collapsed. ”This is the reason you’re breaking up the unity government,” he shouted. ”There is a limit to this shameful behaviour.”
Labour’s pullout leaves Sharon five seats short of a majority and he faces a no-confidence motion on Monday. He is looking to parties such as the National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu for support. But its leader, Avigdor Lieberman, said he favoured swift elections.
If Sharon can find enough support on the right to stay in power for any length of time, the result is likely to be an even harder line in dealing with the Palestinians.
Sharon and the Labour leader met for three hours in an attempt to avert the crisis. A furious Ben-Eliezer stormed out for a while but the outgoing foreign minister, Shimon Peres, who has constantly tried to moderate Sharon’s policies, kept negotiations going until the political brinkmanship proved too much and the talks collapsed.
Some in Likud accuse Ben-Eliezer of sacrificing the government to his own campaign to keep control of his Labour party.
He is trailing two more dovish contenders for the party leadership — Haim Ramon, a knesset member, and the mayor of Haifa, and Amram Mitzna, who says he would immediately negotiate with Yasser Arafat.
Many Labour supporters feel there is little to distinguish Ben-Eliezer from Sharon at a time when there is a growing mood to find a way back to negotiations with the Palestinians.
Sharon also faces a challenge from within his own party. The former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is running close behind in the race for the Likud nomination. He has won the support of many on the far right who believe Sharon has made too many compromises in dealing with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu is a proficient political organiser and more trusted on the economy, but Sharon is well ahead on the question of who Israelis trust to look after their security. That could play particularly well if a conflict with Iraq is still looming during the Likud primaries.
The prime minister has 48 hours to cobble together a coalition with rightwing parties or call an election within 90 days.
The Labour leader has an uphill struggle to retain leadership of his party at primary elections next week. Many members believe he has surrendered too much ground to Mr Sharon
Two leftwingers running neck-and-neck in the Labour leadership race. Both more dovish than Ben-Eliezer.
The former prime minister is challenging Sharon for the Likud nomination for prime minister. Popular with rightwingers, who say Sharon has been too soft on the Palestinians.
Former prime minister and outgoing foreign minister who desperately tried to keep Labour in the coalition government. – Guardian Unlimited (c) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001