The breakup of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition government last week was, on the face of it, a battle over the old issue of West Bank settlements. Labor Party leader Binyamin Ben-Eliezer quit the government ostensibly because Sharon wouldn't reallocate $145 million in settlement funding to poor towns inside Israel. In reality his resignation was motivated largely by his ambition to be re-elected head of his party. And it could have serious implications for Israel's ability to maintain international support for its campaign against Palestinian terrorists.
Sharon's coalition has depended heavily on the presence of Labor to win a...
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