Israel: A David Come to Judgment

David Ben-Gurion, 79, has been of two minds about Levi Eshkol, 70. First, he named him heir to Israel and the Mapai Party. Then, two years later, he proclaimed Eshkol "unfit to govern," and announced that he would challenge him at the polls. Last week, in Israel's national elections, Ben-Gurion turned out to be right the first time—when he let Eshkol become Premier.

The Mapai Party won 43 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, one more than it had held before the election. With the aid of its traditional allies among the smaller labor, religious and Arab parties, Eshkol should...