Party overlooks Eban

Press, 17 June 1988, Page 6

Party overlooks Eban

NZPA-Reuter Tel Aviv Abba Eban, the stylish orator who championed Israel and the Jewish people through the 40 years of Israel’s existence, has lost a battle at home that could mean the end of his political career. The Labour Party, a partner with the Rightist Likud bloc in the coalition Government, on Wednesday denied him a top spot on its list of Parliamentary candidates for the General Election in November. South African-born but British-educated, Mr Eban, who entered Parliament in 1959 after years as a diplomat, declined to stand for a lower slot. He said the party’s central committee had apparently chosen to give others the

authority to carry on. In a letter to the Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres, the party leader, Mr Eban wrote: — “I followed the Labour

Party through many battles and struggles, through a full generation and carried its flag and expressed its ideas throughout our country and all over the world, and many listened to me. “It is clear that I cannot carry this flag as I did in the past.” The party selected more young people and more varied ethnic representatives to counter its image as a tight group of ageing politicians born abroad. After the vote, Mr Peres said, “I believe a party needs a man like Abba Eban, a man of glittering talents, with a splendid past, and I am convinced his contribution will continue in other frameworks in the

future.” At the same time Mr Peres said he was proud that half the faces would be new on the list to be put to voters on November 1. Delegates said ,Mr Eban, aged 73, known for his academic manner and aloofness, was more popular abroad than in Israel. He even looked out of place in a dress jacket and tie among colleagues in short sleeves and opennecked shirts. Asked if he felt any bitterness, Mr Eban said: “No, because if you study long and distinguished careers, you’ll find such episodes there, both during careers and after careers. I don’t want to flatter myself by giving examples.”