Israeli Labour outlines coalition conditions

The leader of Israel’s Labour Party today rebuffed Ariel Sharon’s invitation to formal coalition negotiations, but said he might change his mind if the prime minister agreed to an unconditional renewal of peace talks with the Palestinians.

It was unlikely Sharon would agree to Amram Mitzna’s conditions, which seemed in part aimed at countering charges that Labour was unpatriotic in its refusal to set aside differences at a time of crisis.

As Sharon began coalition talks with other parties, the focus was on the absent Labour Party, which has come under unprecedented pressure – from politicians across the spectrum as well as the heads of Israel’s battered business community – to join a Sharon government.

“I don’t rule out joining, but it has to be on the basis of four conditions,” said Mitzna, whose party won only 19 seats in the 120-member parliament last month’s general election compared to 38 for Sharon’s Likud.

In addition to peace talks, he said Sharon needed to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, agree to the principle of dismantling Jewish settlements, make major cuts in settlement funding, and to speed up construction of a security fence between Israel and the West Bank.

Mitzna was sceptical Sharon could meet such terms.

If he did, it would spark tremendous opposition within Likud as well as smaller right-wing parties that have backed Sharon and have watched with growing annoyance as Sharon has instead wooed – and pressured – Labour.