THE ISRAELI PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79-00927A007400030004-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Sequence Number: 4
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6
Secret
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
WEEKLY SUMMARY
Special Report
The Israeli Parliamentary Elections
Secret
Ng 44
24 October 1969
No. 0393/69C
Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6
 Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6
Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6
 Approved For Release E.DP79-00927AO07400030004-6
THE ISRAELI PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
On 28 October, Israeli voters go to the polls to choose 120 members of
the seventh Knesset (parliament) for a four-year term. The election takes
place in a period of sharply rising conflict on the Arab-Israeli cease-fire lines
and amid continuing efforts by the Big Powers to achieve a peace settlement.
In the tightly structured Israeli party system, the over-all results of this
election were probably determined in large measure last August when Mrs.
Golda Meir, prime minister and leader of the governing Israeli Labor Party --
Mapam "Alignment," succeeded in winning maverick Minister of Defense
Moshe Dayan's pledge not to bolt the party. With Dayan in the fold, it is
almost certain that the star-studded Alignment will again be the front
runner, will form the next government, and will return Mrs. Meir to the
Prime Ministry. Moreover, the added domestic support Mrs. Meir gained
from her trip to the US may confirm the Alignment in its present slight, but
absolute, majority-provided that it can get out the vote of its possibly
over-confident supporters.
In any event, Mrs. Meir is likely to preserve the present National Unity
Government's coalition with the religious and nonsocialist rightist parties in
order to maintain for the Arabs and the Big Powers the image of a united
Israel. The issue of peace and security is the overriding Israeli concern. There
is little prospect that the elections will bring any softening of Israel's
opposition to a return to the pre-1967 borders or to withdrawal to any
borders that Israel considers will not provide maximum security. A viable
peace settlement, moreover, remains a prerequisite for any Israeli with-
drawals at all.
BACKGROUND
Israel elects its parliament by a system of
proportional representation with a single national
constituency. The Israeli voter chooses a list of
candidates selected by each party, rather than any
single individual. This system has resulted in a
multiplicity of parties that has made coalition
Special Report - I -
SECRET
governments a necessity. Mapai, the largest of the
labor-oriented socialist parties, has always won a
plurality, but no party in Israel's 21-year history
has yet won a majority.
In this election, for the first time, the labor
parties have achieved what Mrs. Meir calls a
"dream fulfilled"-the unity of labor. In 1968,
24 October 1969
Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6
 Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927A007400030004-6
SECRET
Israeli-controlled areas following
June 1967 hostilities
Haifa
ISRAEL
Mafraq-
Tel Aviv- WEST
BANK
Yafo g *Amman
Jeruialem
Gaza'./5 Dead
Sea
GAZA STRIPS f
CYPRUS
Ismailia 1" 1e,
,A Canal
SINAI
PENINSULA
Special Report
24 October 1969
SECRET
Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927A007400030004-6
 Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6
SECRET
Mapai, which has been the core of all Israeli
cabinets since 1948 and has furnished all of Is-
rael's prime ministers, merged with two smaller
labor-socialist parties: Ahdut Avodah, which split
Golda Meir from Mapai in the 1940s and is now led by the
Prime Minister present deputy prime minister, Yigal Allon; and
and leader of the Rafi, a group of more recent Mapai dissidents,
Labor-Mapan Alignment headed by Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan,
which broke with the party in 1965. The new
party was called the Israel Labor Party (ILP). This
past spring, the ILP worked out an alliance with
the remaining labor-socialist party, the left-wing
Mapam. This grouping, called the "Alignment,"
now holds 63 seats (67, counting four Arab-af-
Yigal Allon filiated seats) in the 120-member Knesset. It is led
Deputy Prime Minister by Mrs. Meir, ILP secretary general Pinhas Sapir,
leader of Ahdut faction Allon, and Dayan.
of Israeli Labor Party
Moshe Dayan
Minister of Defense
leader of Rafi faction
of Israeli Labor Party
Pinhas Sapir
Secretary General
of the
Israeli Labor Party
If the Alignment confirms its majority in
Tuesday's election, it will be in a position to
effect electoral reforms that would probably limit
proportional representation and could eliminate
the minor parties. An Alignment majority would
bring an end to the need for coalition govern-
ments and might also change the relationship be-
tween Judaism and the state by ending the Align-
ment's historical dependence on the religious
parties as coalition partners.
The six previous parliamentary elections
show an amazing consistency in Israeli voting
habits despite a vast increase in the size of the
electorate and shifts in its composition. In general
terms, the labor-oriented socialist parties have
consistently won 48 to 51 percent of the vote,
the nonsocialist "rightist" parties 24 to 28 per-
cent, the religious parties 12 to 15 percent, the
Communist and Arab groups 3 to 4 percent each,
and all other parties combined less than 3 per-
cent. This consistent pattern results from the ex-
tremely strong party system and from the unique
importance that political parties hold in the life
of the individual.
SECRET
Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6
 Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6
SECRET
The parties are the founders and sponsors of
almost all the collective and cooperative agricul-
tural settlements, and---via the labor unions--con-
trol jobs and services in the urban areas. From the
very moment of an immigrant's arrival, the parties
vie for his favor. They help the new arrivals get
settled, furnishing them with housing, employ-
ment, educational facilities, health needs, and re-
creation. Moreover, most newspapers are party-
run, as are most youth and athletic groups. By
such services and influence, the parties have been
able to capture and hold members and to com-
mand a high degree of party loyalty and disci-
pline.
Mapai, the oldest of the labor parties, has
further reinforced its position by its long-term
control of the huge General Federation of
Labor the Histradrut. This union represents over
90 percent of Israel's wage earners and, with their
dependents, accounts for over half of Israel's pop-
ulation. This "state within a state" is also the
country's largest employer, as it owns and oper-
ates manufacturing, construction, and market cor-
porations, clinics and hospitals, rest homes, the-
aters, and insurance companies.
The current National Unity government,
called by some the "wall-to-wall coalition," was
established as an emergency government in the
name of national unity on the eve of the Six Day
War. It has not been changed except for Mrs.
Meir's succession to the prime ministership fol-
lowing the death of Levi Eshkol last February.
Although Mrs. Meir could depend solely on the
Alignment's 63-seat majority, she has chosen to
maintain the coalition in order to present a facade
of unity and to keep right-wing criticism within
bounds; for their part her coalition partners are
happy to enjoy the fruits of participation.
Most observers believe that the country-wide Histadrut-General Federation of Labor-election on 2 September was
not an accurate political weathervane. Though large, the Histadrut electorate of some 990,000 is only half that of the
Knesset's 1,750,000. Moreover, voting is restricted to Histadrut members, not all parties participate, and the issues are
primarily economic rather than political. Nevertheless, because of their proximity to the Knesset elections, the results
have been carefully scrutinized for trends, particularly this year when the shift of a few seats will determine an
Alignment majority.
For the political pulse-takers, there were interesting shifts on both the left and the right. The Alignment, while still
retaining a majority, dropped from its 77 percent vote in 1965 to 62 percent-off 15 percent. The nonsocialist parties
led by Gahal took almost 25 percent of the vote, a 5-6 percent rise, suggesting a definite shift to the right. Another 3.7
percent would be added on the right if Ben Gurion's dissident Rafi State List, which supports the views of Dayan, is
included.
On the left, a notable advance was made by the Arab nationalist, Communist Rakah Party, which jumped its vote
among Arab Histadrut members (some 35,000) from under 20 percent in 1965 to 31 percent this year. Rakah's over-all
percentage of the Histadrut vote is still only 2.5, but its gains demonstrate serious Communist inroads among Israel's
Arabs. In the Knesset elections, this may signal a shift away from the Arab parties affiliated with the Alignment (which
now hold four seats) to Rakah (which holds three).
Whether these trends will repeat themselves in the Knesset elections or will be overcome by stepped-up Alignment
campaigning efforts, remains to be seen. Alignment officials tried to blame the shifts on low voter participation--only
some 630,000 went to the polls. Mrs. Meir appeared worried, however, and was bluntly critical of her party. "It had
been preoccupied with itself for the last ten years," she said, "and had managed to make people sick and tired."
Special Report -4-
SECRET
Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6
 Approved For Release 2006/Oe - QP79-00927A007400030004-6
PROBLEMS WITHIN THE ALIGNMENT
The Alignment is far from being a mono-
lithic structure. It suffers from internal ideologi-
cal and organizational differences as well as from
severe personal rivalries. The partners (Mapai,
Mapam, Ahdut, and Rafi) are joined in tenuous
union, and the Alignment's long-term staying
power is questionable.
Special Report
The veteran Mapai party is moderately so-
cialist, but flexible enough to include private en-
terprise in its spectrum. Mapam is a decidedly
more rigid and doctrinaire Marxist-socialist party,
with a tendency in the past of following a pro-So-
viet line and being "soft" on the Arab-Israeli
dispute. Despite Mapam's shift toward a more
bourgeois line over the past year, it is still con-
sidered by some political groups in Israel as pro-
Arab and by a few as potentially disloyal. Both
SECRET
Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927A007400030004-6
 Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927A007400030004-6
SECRET
Mapai and Mapam are dominated by aging Zionist
leaders of Eastern European origin, who are being
challenged by younger elements in their own par-
ties, and by the Ahdut and Rafi leaders, Allon
and Dayan.
The Ahdut and Rafi groups are essentially
different from the old guard parties. There are, of
course, rivalries and some old scars between them,
but both parties are led by and basically appeal to
the Sabras. These younger, native-born Israelis are
more pragmatic than ideological, less interested in
Zionist philosophy than in the fact of the State of
Israel, and less concerned with Israel's image
abroad than with their determination to maintain
the country's viability. Led by military heroes,
the parties are more militant than socialist and
think primarily in security terms. On domestic
issues, Ahdut is more hard-line socialist than
Mapai while Rafi is less so.
This internal struggle is personified in the
three-way contest for the prime ministership,
which pits the establishment old guard, repre-
sented by Mrs. Meir and ILP Secretary General
Sapir, against challengers Allon and Dayan. The
fight threatened to break into the open last Feb-
ruary when former premier Eshkol died. To avoid
a showdown and to block Dayan, the most dan-
gerous challenger, the old guard surprised almost
everyone by pulling 71-year-old Golda Meir out
of semiretirement and installing her as prime min-
ister.
Since her take-over in March, however, the
redoubtable Mrs. Meir has so firmly taken control
of the enlarged party, and has so solidified herself
with the Israeli public generally, that both Allon
and Dayan apparently have decided to bide their
time until she is ready to step down. Mrs. Meir is
now expected to continue in office for at least a
year or two after the elections, health permitting.
The struggle is certain to re-emerge eventually and
Special Report
will continue below the surface in the interim.
Secretary General Sapir, the hard-working
"eminence grise" of the ILP, will no doubt con-
tinue his maneuvers to undercut Dayan's position
in the party and if possible to weaken his political
punch with the public. Sapir himself has ambi-
tions to take over, though he lacks the color and
following of the two primary challengers. Earlier
this year, Sapir was in fact trying to force Dayan
to bolt the party and enter a political no man's
land from which Sapir hoped he might never
return. Mrs. Meir overruled Sapir, however, partly
because of her fear of Dayan's potential as an
independent. In her direct way, Mrs. Meir last
August went to the Rafi convention to plead
against a proposed split, telling the delegates it
would be a "catastrophe" and an "unforgivable
luxury."
DAYAN AND THE RAFI PARTY
Dayan's decision not to bolt removed an
important hurdle threatening the Alignment's
drive for a majority. The charismatic Dayan,
though disliked by the party establishment, is
immensely popular with the Israeli public, par-
ticularly the younger voters. The general and his
political lieutenants are fully aware of this lever-
age and have extracted a high price for their
continued loyalty. Mrs. Meir was compelled to
promise Dayan the Defense Ministry as long as
she remained in power and also a cabinet slot for
one of his lieutenants; moreover, she called off
Sapir's attempt to pack Rafi's election list with
anti-Dayan candidates.
Even if Dayan had bolted, it is doubtful that
he could have won enough seats to engineer a
coalition with the opposition and get himself the
prime ministership. It would probably have been
no more than a spoiling operation, and he would
have lost his job as defense minister. In addition,
Dayan has neither the personality nor the apti-
tude for the day-to-day grind of politics and party
SECRET
Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927A007400030004-6
 Approved For Release
SE&RT
E
building. By not bolting, Dayan has stayed on the
most certain path to power, through the Align-
ment machine.
An interesting sidelight is that some of
Dayan's supporters are so bitter over his decision
that they have formed a new party, the State List.
Under the leadership of the octogenarian former
prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, who led the
original Rafi break with Mapai in 1965, this fac-
tion obviously hopes to make enough of a show-
ing to entice Dayan into leaving the Alignment
after the elections-but this now seems a vain
hope.
Sixteen separate party lists were entered by
the closing date on 24 September. The opposition
parties offer widely divergent approaches to Is-
raeli and Middle East problems, but none presents
any real threat to the Alignment. Party platforms
range from that of the Arab-based New Commu-
nist Party, which is recognized by Moscow and
follows a strong pro-Nasir line, to the hard line of
the Land of Israel group, which advocates the
present cease-fire lines as minimum permanent
borders, the expulsion of all Arabs from the oc-
cupied territories, and the development of a nu-
clear deterrent. At best, the opposition could
aggregate just enough seats to deprive the Align-
ment of an absolute majority.
The possibility of a government based on
nonsocialist opposition parties, however, has al-
ways been a faint back-of-the-mind worry to
Alignment leaders, and this certainly played a
part in Mrs. Meir's resolve to keep Dayan in the
field. The opposition divides into two main
blocs-the nonsocialist "rightist" parties and the
religious parties-with a scattering of minor par-
ties. The Alignment's chief concern has been that
Gahal (the Herut Liberal Party bloc) would win
Special Report -7
SECRET
enough votes to entice the religious parties out of
their traditional coalition with labor and bring
about the defection of some of the more "hawk-
ish" elements from the Alignment itself.
The Gahal bloc has been gradually increasing
its percent of the vote, reaching 21 percent in the
1965 election. Gahal spokesmen say they expect
to do even better in this election, i.e., to achieve
between 26 and 30 seats. Their predictions are
thought to be optimistic, but in the present siege-
like atmosphere Gahal's supernationalist mili-
tancy may appeal to more voters than previously.
On the other hand, the presence of Dayan and
Allon on the Alignment ballot seems likely to
blur the differences, and Dayan's decision to stay
in the Alignment has certainly dashed any real
hopes Gahal might have had of achieving an alter-
native coalition. Gahal may also suffer some in-
roads from the presence of Ben-Gurion's State
List and the annexationist Land of Israel party.
Menahem Beigin
Leader of the Gahal Party
Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927A007400030004-6
 Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927A007400030004-6
SECRET
The religious parties, the other main bloc,
are regarded as somewhat anachronistic in a state
where most people are not particularly religious
and like to think of themselves as modern and
secular. There is some identity of political and
economic views between the religious parties and
Gahal, but the religious parties are mainly inter-
ested in maintaining Jewish religious law and tra-
dition among the people. Since 1948, therefore,
they have been the traditional coalition partner
with Mapai-willing to trade support on secular
issues in return for a monopoly on religious af-
fairs. From time to time, both Dayan and Gahal
spokesmen have expressed qualms about being
"at the mercy" of the religious parties.
The opposition's main charge against the
Alignment is that it suffers from "bigness." The
prospect of an Alignment majority has raised
fears among the small parties that they will be
eliminated, and among the religious parties that
they will not be needed as coalition partners. This
fear has not pushed them into more than a per-
functory campaign, however. The independent
newspaper Haaretz recently criticized the opposi-
tion parties for what it described as their obvious
desire to sit in coalition rather than mount a real
fight. The paper warned that the end of Israeli
democracy might be at hand. Certainly, the pros-
pect of an Alignment "steamroller" has raised
some such qualms, as has the labor-oriented par-
ties' 20-year power monopoly, and the issue may
therefore play some role. Gahal, in particular, is
harping on the danger to Israeli democracy if the
Alignment wins an absolute majority.
The overriding issues for most Israelis, how-
ever, are peace and security, and how best to
obtain them. Few in Israel really believe that the
Arabs are ready to make peace. "therefore, politi-
cal debate centers on security- in particular, on
Special Report
what Israel's most secure borders would be and
what should be done with the occupied Arab
territories. There is a wide range of views, both
among and within the parties, from those who
want to give it all back in exchange for peace, to
those who oppose giving up "an inch."
The Alignment's stand is generally in the
middle. There are differences, of course, but there
is more unanimity than disagreement, most appar-
ently on the question of what Israel's northern
and southern borders should be. Discussion,
therefore, centers more on tactics than substance,
less on what is needed than on whether Israeli
leaders should express their demands publicly
prior to negotiations. Especially provocative is
Dayan's suggestion that Israel should move ahead
unilaterally and "draw the map"-establish defen-
sive points and permanent settlements-without
waiting for negotiations with the Arabs and in the
face of Big Power peace efforts.
There is general agreement that there can be
no return to the pre-1967 borders, that Jerusalem
must be retained, the Golan Heights kept, the
Gaza strip annexed, and control maintained over
Sharm ash-Shaykh with a land connection from
there to the port of Elat. Even the "dovish"
Mapam, which after the war called for the return
of all territories, has now moved closer to this
position.
The only real argument left concerns the
disposition of the remainder of the occupied ter-
ritory-particularly the West Baule-and, espe-
cially, Dayan's proposal to integrate the occupied
territory economically with Israel. Believing that
peace is far off, Dayan wants to extend Israeli law
to the occupied territories, develop them in co-
operation with their Arab occupants, and estab-
lish some form of Israeli-Arab coexistence.
Many Alignment leaders-Mrs. Meir, Sapir,
and Foreign Minister Abba Eban-oppose this
_ 8 - 24 October 1969
SECRET
Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927A007400030004-6
 Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6
SECRET
1. Israeli Labor Party - Mapam: The ruling majority party led by Prime Minister
Golde Meir, Party Secretary General Pinhas Sapir, Deputy Prime Minister
Allon, and Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, A labor-oriented, moderate, social-
ist grouping of the former Mapai, Ahdut Avodah, and Rafi parties that merged
into the Israel Labor Party in 1965 and achieved labor unity this spring with
its alliance with Mapam.
2. Progress, Development, and Druze List: One of two tame Arab parties allied
with the Labor-Mapam Alignment; led by Seif e-Din Zu'abi.
3. Cooperation and Fraternity List: The other tame Arab party; led by Diab
Ubeid.
Religious Parties
4. National Religious Party: The traditional coalition partner with the Labor
parties in previous governments; led by Haim Moshe Shapiro, Minister of
Justice. Primarily interested in maintenance of religion in the state; wants to
retain West Bank (Judea and Samaria) for historical and religious reasons.
5. Agudat Yisrael: An ultraorthodox religious party, led by Yitzak Meir Levin.
6. Poalei Agudat Yisrael: The labor wing of Agudat Yisrael.
Nonsocialist "Right"
7. Gahal: A merger of the former Herut and Liberal parties; a nonsocialist,
free-enterprise, rightist group led by the former Irgun terrorist leader, Minister
without Portfolio Menahem Beigin, and by Minister without Portfolio Joseph
Sapir. Follows a militant hard line vis-a-vis the Arabs, and a "not give an inch"
policy regarding return of the occupied territories.
8. Free Center: A small rebel split-off from Herut; led by Shmuel Tamir,
believes that Gehal is somewhat soft and has compromised its principles by
joining the government coalition.
9. Independent Liberal Party: Nonsocialist, free-enterprise reform party, led by
Minister of Tourism Moshe Kol; supported by professionals and intellectuals
who oppose hard-line policies of Gahal.
10. Rakah (New Communist) Party: The primarily Arab-based Communist party
led by Meir Wilner. Takes a strong Arab Nationalist, pro-Nasirist line, and is
recognized by Mloscow.
11. Maki: The small Jewish-based Communist party, which has broken with
Moscow; led by Dr. Moshe Sneh, it supports the government on Arab-Israeli
issues.
12. Haolarn Hazeh (New Force): A small neutralist party led by maverick Uri
Avneri, the publisher of a sex-and-scandal sheet; Avneri plays the role of gadfly
to the government, advocates the formation of a binational Palestine, and
separation of church and state.
13. The State List (or New Rafi): A group of Rafi dissidents unhappy with
Dayan's decision to remain in the ILP. Led by 83-year-old former prime
minister David Ben-Gurion.
14. The Land of Israel List (Eretz Israel): A new, hard-line rightist group that
advocates recognition of the present cease-fire lines as Israel's permanent
borders, emigration of Arabs from the occupied territories, and development
of a nuclear deterrent. Led by Dr. Israel Elded, a former Stern Gang terrorist
leader.
15. The Peace List: A new party of leftists, former Mapamnics advocating peace
without annexations; led by Dr. Gad Yatziv, a young sociologist.
16. Young Israel: A perennially unsuccessful group that advocates increased
influence for the Oriental Jewish community; led by Yitzak Emmanuel.
Special Report
concept, fearing especially the demographic
threat to the Jewish character of Israel if great
segments of Arab population are integrated. Mrs.
Meir says flatly that she "wants a Jewish Is-
rael.. .without the need for a daily census to deter-
mine when the Arab population has reached 50
percent." What this group calls for instead is
enough territory for maximum security, with a
minimum number of Arabs.
Other objections to Dayan's proposals are
based on economic and diplomatic grounds. For
example, Foreign Minister Eban maintains that
Israel cannot assume that a peace settlement is
impossible. He believes Israel must keep its op-
tions open and must not destroy its negotiating
flexibility by prematurely and unilaterally draw-
ing a map. Deputy Premier Allon has authored his
own plan, delineating the security zones and bor-
ders he thinks Israel must retain. In many ways,
he is very close to Dayan's views, but he opposes
complete integration of the territories for demo-
graphic reasons.
The Alignment platform is thus somewhat
vague; in fact, a special party subcommittee was
required to work out phraseology that includes
both main schools of thought. Dayan won his
hard-line emphasis on "strategic security bor-
ders," and Mrs. Meir and company won their
"nonspecificity" requirement-only Jerusalem is
mentioned. The platform emphasizes a side-step
position on which almost everyone in Israel can
agree: no return to the pre-war borders, no with-
drawal without peace, and no peace without di-
rect negotiations. As Mrs. Meir sums it up: there
is no need to draw a map until the Arabs are
ready to negotiate, and until then, "Why should
we argue with ourselves?" For campaign pur-
poses, however, Mapam-which boggles at the
idea of permanent settlements in the terri-
tories-is allowed to give its own interpretation to
its followers, and Dayan continues to preach his
SECRET
Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6
 Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6
SECRET
draw-the-map-now doctrine, but dilutes it slightly
by adding that "everything is negotiable."
Neither inside nor outside the Alignment is
there any doubt that the Alignment will take its
usual big chunk of the parliament, that it will
form the core of the next government, and that
Mrs. Meir will be returned to the prime ministry.
Until recently it seemed, however, that the Align-
ment might not confirm its current majority.
There were several reasons for this pessimism: the
relative tameness of this year's campaign; the
voters' preoccupation with the daily fighting
along the borders; and the overconfidence of
Alignment supporters-all adding up to a good
possibliity of low voter participation. The Align-
ment is concerned over these factors and is work-
ing hard to overcome them.
Alignment leaders believe they made a def-
inite gain as a result of Israeli reaction to Mrs.
Meir's recent visit to the US and her talks with
President Nixon. They now think that the pub-
licity given her trip has added enough to the
Alignment's drawing power so that if they can
just "get out the vote," it will perhaps carry them
to a small-but nevertheless absolute-majority.
Although Mrs. Meir did not return home with any
tangible evidence of US support, her trip is inter-
preted by Israeli media as an endorsement and is
regarded in Israel as near "triumphal" in light of
the obviously warm reception she received in
Washington and elsewhere. Since her return, Mrs.
Meir has emphasized President Nixon's "full un-
derstanding" of Israel's position and problems
and her belief that the US will continue its mili-
tary and economic assistance. As one newspaper
put it, Mrs, Meir achieved all that was possible by
personal diplomacy.
Mrs. Meir's stock had been on the rise even
before the trip. Her tough, determined stand on
peace and security and her firmness in the face of
external pressures have won her wide support
throughout the country. Whether or not the
Alignment wins the majority it seeks, Mrs. Meir
apparently plans to continue the present National
Unity coalition to underscore her theme of Israeli
solidarity and unity.
SECRET
Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6
 Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6
Secret
Secret
Approved For Release 2006/08/30: CIA-RDP79-00927AO07400030004-6