1990

A major development in 1990 was the collapse of the Government of National Unity and the formation of a narrow-based coalition headed by Mr. Shamir. The issue on which the government fell was representation of Palestinians residing in East Jerusalem. Labour was less concerned with this problem, while the Likud feared that if they are represented in both the negotiations and the elections, East Jerusalem would be considered part of the occupied areas. Labour accused Likud of stalling the peace process, while the prime minister said that he was waiting for American assurances. The government fell on 8 March. There followed three months of efforts to form a new government. Mr. Peres tried and failed and Mr. Shamir finally succeeded informing a government on 11 June. During this time, the peace process was effectively stalled. In the new government, Moshe Arens became the defense minister while David Levy was appointed vice premier and minister for foreign affairs. Even before the new government started to function, an attack on central Israel by terrorists who came by motorboats, but were repelled, forced the United States to suspend its dialogue with the PLO. The reason for this move was the failure of the PLO to condemn the attack on Israel which took place on 30 May 1990. The policy guidelines of the Shamir government were similar to those of December 1988 and repeated previous positions: No Palestinian state, no negotiations with the PLO; United Jerusalem to remain under Israeli sovereignty; continuation of settlements in the areas and continuation of the peace process with the May 1989 initiative as its basis.

In August Foreign Minister Levy was talking of a two-track negotiation arrangement - the Palestinian track designed to bring about a transition period and an autonomy and state-to-state negotiations designed to culminate with peace treaties between Israel and Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Before any progress could be made, the Middle East plunged into another crisis, this time created by the 2 August invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. The United States began to build an anti Saddam Hussein coalition which included Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia. Saddam Hussein threatened on a number of occasions that if war breaks out, Israel will be attacked by missiles. Israel was asked by the United States not to make counter threats and to remain in a low profile, a request that was acceeded Talks between the heads of the IDF and the U.S. military were held to ensure cooperation and sharing of information. But Israel insisted that there be no linkage between the resolution of the Gulf crisis and that of the Arab-Israel conflict. The PLO supported the Iraqi position, as did Libya, Algeria and Yemen. Israel undertook not to launch an independent military action against Iraq. But preparations were made in the home front to defend the population from the danger of missile attacks on densely populated civilian areas. Gas masks were distributed to the entire population, including residents of the areas under Israeli control. Prime Minister Shamir met President Bush in the White House on I I December to coordinate policies. It was understood that the peace process will be held in abeyance pending the resolution of the Gulf crisis.

1990 marked an improvement of Israel's diplomatic position in Eastern Europe. Diplomatic relations were restored with Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Greece accorded Israel a de jure recognition and raised the relations to ambassadorial level. The Soviet Union and Israel raised their ties to full consular level. Israel opened an embassy in Addis Ababa. Visits of ministers from Africa and Eastern Europe to Israel increased in volume. Immigration from the Soviet Union reached unprecedented levels when over 200,000 Jews came from that country during the year.