The Cautious Visitor

In his New Year's message to the Israeli people, he wished them "a boring year of peace." But for Yitzhak Navon, Israel's President, 1983 may be anything but boring or peaceful. Navon, 61, is being touted as a strong candidate who could unite the divided Labor Party to challenge Prime Minister Menachem Begin and his Likud coalition should Begin call new elections this year.

The surge of interest in Navon in Israel inspired unusual caution in Washington as the Israeli President began a ten-day tour of the U.S. with a visit to the White House last week. Mindful that any sign of favoritism toward Navon might be interpreted as meddling in Israeli politics, Administration officials were careful to stress the "informal" nature of Navon's visit. They were particularly anxious not to antagonize Begin, who is scheduled to come to Washington next month. Thus President Reagan and Navon met alone for only 20 minutes before sitting down to lunch with Vice President George Bush and Secretary of State George Shultz.

Navon, too, was being careful, confining his statements to "nonpartisan" concerns. He told the President that even those in Israel who support Reagan's Sept. 1 peace plan, which calls for the Israeli-occupied West Bank to be linked to Jordan, fear that the proposal could be "misinterpreted" to allow for an independent Palestinian state one day. After a speech before the National Press Club and a tour of Mount Vernon with his wife Ofira, Navon flew on to New York City and Boston for talks with American Jewish groups and others.

In a moment of candor, he confessed that there had been times during his tenure when he found it tough to keep silent. "It is not that I don't have my own opinion," he said, "but I am paid not to think aloud." One moment when Navon could not keep silent was after the Beirut massacre in mid-September, when he publicly expressed his shock and sorrow and called for a commission of inquiry to investigate Israel's role. He said later that if Begin had not appointed a commission, he would have resigned.

The commission's findings, which are slated to be released next month, could bear on Navon's political future. If they implicate the government, Begin is expected to respond by calling new elections. The Labor Party will then have to decide whether to enter the campaign under the leadership of Shimon Peres, who has lost to Begin twice, or choose a new leader. Navon has said he would accept the job only if he was uncontested, meaning that both Peres and former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin would have to step aside. Given the party's divisions, that is not considered very likely.

Some supporters point out that as a Sephardic Jew, Navon would appeal to the Sephardim (mostly non-Europeans), who now constitute a majority of Israel's population and are among Begin's strongest backers. Says Rabbi William Berkowitz, president of the American Jewish Heritage Committee: "Navon is to the Sephardim what John F. Kennedy was to the Irish Americans." At the same time, Navon's scholarly accomplishments and urbanity are attractive to Jews of European extraction. A graduate in Islamic culture from Hebrew University, he speaks fluent Yiddish, Arabic, English and Spanish. He has written a prizewinning play (Sephardi Orchard) as well as a popular concert presentation of Sephardic songs and folklore.

After serving as political secretary to Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion for eleven years, Navon ran for the Knesset in 1965, serving as Deputy Speaker and chairman of the defense and foreign relations committee before resigning to become President in 1978. Will he now try to cap his career by taking on Menachem Begin? Navon says he has already decided what he will do--but Israelis will have to wait until next month to find out. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.