the deal was due to begin in early November, but he kept putting off a vote in the

/ BARAK / 17 the deal was due to begin in early November, but he kept putting off a vote in the cabinet. When the vote came, on November 11, Bibi squeaked through by a margin of 8 to 4, but with five abstentions. That meant less than half of his ministers had voted for it. The easy part for him was Knesset ratification, since I had committed Labor to supporting Bibi on any move towards continuing the peace process. The day after the Knesset’s vote, Bibi won the cabinet’s clearance for actual implementation to begin. But it didn’t. With hard-line ministers threatening to bring down the government if it did, Bibi again stalled. That was the turning point. I’d made it clear our parliamentary support would remain for as long as Bibi moved ahead with what had been agreed at Wye River. It was not intended as a blank check, or an offer to prop up a Prime Minister who now seemed to be looking for any way possible not to implement the agreement. My key ally in what came next was Haim Ramon. Despite our differences over the direction of the Peres election campaign, we had become effective parliamentary partners. He had a depth of political experience and knowledge I still lacked. While I found the details of how the Knesset operated arcane and often tiresome, Haim knew all of it instinctively. When it came to the need for discreet discussions or bargaining with other parties, not only could he draw on his personal relationships with Knesset members across the party divide. He had the additional advantage of being able to avoid the scrutiny that would follow a direct approach from me. Before Bibi had gone to Wye, Haim and I had discussed how we might move to force early elections. The peace process, and the country, were drifting. There seemed no point in waiting, if we could be confident of lining up the necessary votes among the growing number of others who were also convinced Bibi should go. After the Wye summit agreement, I put all that on hold. But now that Bibi had shifted into reverse, I told Haim to resume his efforts. In early December, he told me he had enough votes for a no-confidence motion, under his name, to dissolve the Knesset and pave the way for early elections. The axe fell on December 20. Bibi had lost the support of the right-wing, who wanted Oslo ended altogether. He had now lost me, too. I felt his approach to the peace process was leaving Israel rudderless. The way we were heading, we would not just forfeit any potential benefits from Oslo. We would be leaving a political and diplomatic vacuum at a time when a serious new explosion of Palestinian violence was becoming ever more likely. In the Knesset debate, Bibi made one final bid to 303 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_011774