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July 11, 2000

Just an hour before departing for the talks, Barak faced down an unruly Parliament, barely surviving a vote of no-confidence.

The opposition Likud party failed to muster the 61 votes that would have ousted Barak. Fifty-four members voted for the motion of no confidence; 52 opposed it and seven members abstained.

Nonetheless, many observers are saying that Barak arrives today in Washington alone.

Three right-wing and religious parties, including Barak’s largest coalition partner, announced they were quitting the government, drastically reducing Barak’s support in Parliament from a sound majority to a minority.

Several key ministers in Barak’s Cabinet handed in letters of resignation. Foreign Minister David Levy announced he would boycott the U.S.-hosted talks.

Analysts and newspapers in Israel said the defections were triggered by Barak’s failure to build a consensus before the summit, and by a perception in the conservative wing of the coalition that he would turn over too much West Bank land to the Palestinians at the bargaining table.

Guests:

• Ambassador Clovis Maksoud, Director of the Center of the Global South at American University and former Ambassador for the Arab League to the U.N. and U.S.
• Phyllis Bennis, is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. She just returned from 3 weeks in the West Bank.