JERUSALEM, July 1: Israel's Foreign Minister has said that he is considering resigning over the government's sloppy decision-making and its failure to get peace talks with the Palestinians back on track.

David Levy's public criticism further weakened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's teetering government. Last week, Netanyahu survived a no-confidence motion in Parliament, but to his embarrassment, 11 members of his ruling coalition skipped the balloting to show their unhappiness with his leadership. At a press conference on Monday, Levy warned that Netanyahu's handling of peace talks with the Palestinians could fail, triggering new violence. ``The peace process is stuck,'' Levy said, adding, ``If anyone thinks that if we freeze everything we will prevail, he doesn't know what storm he is inviting.''

Levy implied that Netanyahu was being held hostage by right-wing groups opposed to an accord. ``A government is established to take decisions, not live constantly under threats from self-appointed watchdogs,'' he said.He also charged that the Prime Minister had not consulted him, most recently when Netanyahu failed to inform him about a recent meeting between Infrastructures Minister Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat's deputy Mahmoud Abbas.

``It is no longer possible to accept these deficiencies,'' Levy said. In the next few days I will decide on what I am going to do, on whether I will remain in the government.''

After the news conference, Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying he has faith in the foreign minister and intends to consult with him soon. As Levy pondered his future in the government, cracks were widening in the ruling coalition. Public Security Minister Avigdor Kahalani said on Monday that his centrist Third Way party would leave the coalition if peace talks with the Palestinians are not restarted by year's end. ``We all feel that the government is committing suicide and on the edge of an abyss,'' he said. Levy's Gesher group which had joined the Likud party late in the May 1996 campaign was also getting ready for early elections, the Haaretz newspaper reported.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.