Political rivals and partners in a Rotatzia coalition government, Yitzhak Shamir and Shimon Peres, enjoy before themselves the annual Mimouna Festival at Sacher Park in Jerusalem, Israel, on April 10, 1986. The gathering celebrates North African Jewish culture and traditions, and as well, Sephardic culture. Peres was in the tail end of his 2-yeara leadership as prime minister, after which time Shamir, deputy prime minister and foreign minister would take the reins of leadership. The jovial spirits of the gathering was emblematic of how the two party leaders put aside their partisan and sometimes petty bickering for the good of the country. Despite dire predictions of imminent failure, the rotatzia, or rotation coalition government worked relatively well for its 4-year duration.
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