Israel: The Big Stall

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Ultimately, reality had to catch up with absurdity. Here was an Israeli government negotiating autonomy for the West Bank and Gaza Strip at peace talks in Washington, while a critical part of the coalition advocated either annexing the occupied territories or expelling the Palestinians en masse. Something had to go, and last week it was the government's extreme right wing. By announcing their intention to leave the ruling coalition this week, the ultranationalists of the Tehiya and Moledet parties virtually ensured the collapse of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's government and set the stage for elections as early as May.

Their maneuver is likely to stall the peace talks. Shamir promises to keep talking, but a U.S. official says the coalition's fall "will raise questions about the government's ability to negotiate and complicate its strategy formulation."