Israel’s surprising new coalition

By Jerry Falwell

Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon held up the formation of a national unity government, waiting on an answer from Ehud Barak to become his defense minister to secure the entrance of the Labor party into the government. Barak accepted the defense portfolio February 15.

As I assess this situation, General Sharon’s political calculus is sound, if not a bit incongruous. He figures — correctly, in my opinion — that there can be no national unity government in Israel without the participation of former prime minister Ehud Barak. If Barak had followed through on his promise to resign from the Knesset and Labor party leadership (which would have been the first promise he ever managed to actually keep), the Labor Party would be plunged into internal chaos, which, while good for the Likud Party (headed by Sharon) in the short term, is not good for them in the long term.

A party in chaos, torn by division and filled with power struggles would be in no position to enter a national unity government. It would have no leader and no one to make such fateful decisions. In such a circumstance, Sharon would have been forced to depend upon the conservative / right-wing parties in the current Knesset to form a very narrow conservative government. Sharon would have had no margin for error. He didn’t want this.

This would have been a recipe for still more instability and would provide just the catalyst the left really needs to reconstruct itself. Some of the religious parties on the right repeatedly demonstrate an almost palpable contempt for Israel’s national interest. They would have held Sharon hostage to the same extortionist demands they have subjected upon prime ministers from all parties and viewpoints for 25 years. This option would have made the establishment of a sound and long-lasting government very difficult.

Yet another unstable Israeli government was the last thing anyone wanted, least of all General Sharon. It would be precisely the key to life now so desperately desired by the left. A hobbled Sharon government would find a very quickly revitalized left.

By co-opting Barak into his cabinet, Sharon believes he has the best chance of establishing a stable government. Barak will bring labor with him and forestall a leadership struggle there. Besides, Sharon knows his external (and internal) public relations challenges and rightly figures that having Barak taking harsher measures against Palestinian terror will play out better with the Europeans and Americans than a right-wing defense minister or Sharon himself.

Many on the right — and in his own camp — are already verbally sniping about this strategy. The Likud malcontents are now saying things like, “We voted for Sharon and are going to get Barak and Peres.”

I am not one of these individuals. I believe Sharon is on the right track, albeit a strange one. For the first time in a long time, I think Israel has a prime minister truly interested in working to enhance and promote the national interest, even at the expense of some of his own ideals. Whether it works or not is anyone’s guess.

Jerry Falwell

Rev. Jerry Falwell, a nationally recognized Christian minister and television show host, was the founder of Jerry Falwell Ministries and chancellor of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Read more of Jerry Falwell's articles here.