Israel: Heir Apparent

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Israel's politicians agree on few things, and a possible Middle East solution is not usually one of them. Last week, however, Israeli Cabinet members gave broad support to a territorial peace plan that offered for the first time to relinquish some occupied territory. It proposed to turn over to the Arabs the occupied West Bank of the Jordan River but to establish armed Israeli settlements on the commanding Judean heights west of the river to separate the territory from Jordan and guard against infiltration into Israel. If the Jordanians concluded a peace treaty with Israel, they would be guaranteed access through a corridor north of Jerusalem, plus one or two access routes to the Mediterranean across Israel itself.

Predictably, the proposal brought no response from the Arabs. But its general acceptance in the Israeli Cabinet was an indication of the rising political eminence of its author, former Labor Minister Yigal Allon, 49. At almost the same time that Allon presented his plan, Premier Levi Eshkol appointed him his Deputy Premier. Eshkol, 72, who plans to step down after the 1969 general elections, was immediately accused of trying to pick his own successor. The charge is not unfounded.

Behind Allon's sudden promotion is Eshkol's determination to deny the premiership to his political opponent, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan. Oxford-educated, rugged and handsome, Allon — who talks of "a close relationship of trust" with Eshkol — could become a serious contender for the party nomination. Although he lacks Dayan's saviour-of-the-nation charisma, he is a man to be reckoned with.

Weekends at the Kibburz. The grandson of an early immigrant, Allon was the dashing young leader of an elite underground commando group and one of the early heroes of the 1948 war of independence. His thrust into the Negev region, and other bold strikes against the Arabs, helped shape Israel's first borders. Today his pioneer toughness is concealed behind an urbane manner, a clipped British accent and the softening lines of middle age.

Allon gets high grades in Israeli political circles for administrative skill and political acumen. As Labor Minister he gave Israel one of the most liberal social welfare programs in the world. While, in politics as in warfare, Dayan relies on his flair and intuition, Allon prefers a more logical approach. A smooth committeeman and perceptive analyst, he rarely takes an important decision without first ordering a survey. He favors a pluralistic society of Jews and Arabs living together.

Allon lives with his wife Ruth and two sons in a Tel Aviv penthouse, but he spends almost all of his weekends on the kibbutz in shell-torn Galilee, where he was born and raised. There, at the scene of his first military exploits, he rides horseback, reads voraciously and works on his military history of Israel, The Shield of David. There, too, he thought of the buffer plan that will henceforth bear his name.