The news is reporting that the Meretz and Labor parties are uniting into one party under the name "Hademocratim" - the Democrats.

This is pretty funny. Times of Israel is reporting that the Haredi MKs, from both Shas and UTJ, are writing off the Labor party as future coalition partners. 

this is pretty funny

MK Tzippi Livni (Hamachane Hatzioni), like all the MKs, is starting to prepare for elections. With Livni it might involve deciding in which political party to run this time, as she has moved from party to party over the past few elections. For the meantime she is still holding her bloc with Labor as Hamachane Hatzioni, but that can change at any time.

While they prepare for elections, Livni yesterday evening called up all the leaders of the left and center to form greater blocs and alignments in order to win the upcoming elections. She specifically called upon Avi Gabbay, head of the Labor party, among others, to put his ego aside for the greater good of putting the party first and winning the elections.

I find "put your ego aside" to be very similar to calls for "achdut" - unity. When people call for achdut, they almost always mean do it my way for the sake of unity. Only rarely do they mean I will do it your way, and even less frequently do they mean let's find a way together that might not be perfect but would be beneficial to everyone.  "Put your ego aside" means move over and let me rule. It does not mean I will put my ego aside. Better you than me.

So, Mr Gabbay, put your ego aside for the greater good, or at least for Tzippi Livni's good.

I am watching with interest what is happening in the Labor party with Avi Gabbay as the new chairman and his recent statements, and the opposition developing because of them.

Gabbay is saying things not quite in tune with the Labor party mainstream ideas.

When he ran for chairmanship of the party it was said that he was an outsider, not really a true or classic Labor person and had even been associated with the Right and Likud at earlier stages in his life, though being new to politics there did not seem to be anything clear on his actual positions or history regarding those positions.

It turns out now that at least on nationalist issues Avi Gabbay is pretty similar to a mainstream Likudnik, or even anybody on the Right such as a member of Habayit Hayehudi or Shas.

First he talks about not forming a government coalition with the Arab parties. Then he talks about not dismantling settlements. And now he is talking about how Abraham was promised all the land of Israel and we will need other creative solutions to come to peace besides for dismantling settlements.

People on the Left are livid, and I wait to see if they try to oust him from the chairmanship of Labor or if they give him a chance to come up with a plan that can challenge the Right in a realistic way. From that perspective, what they have been trying for the past 20 years or so has not worked and they have pretty much been kept out of power, possibly because of it. Maybe they need a new approach and maybe Avi Gabbay can bring it.

As Ben said, pretty wild that the only woman running for party leadership in the Labor party elections is a Haredi woman...



It is interesting that no other women ran for party leadership. It is also interesting that a Haredi woman would run for leadership of Labor. I don't know how long she has been involved with them or how publicly. She is not the first haredi woman to run with other parties besides for the Haredi parties. You can't keep people down forever - try and they will just find others who will give them the opportunity..

Margalit will run against Herzog in the upcoming primaries, but Herzog won the first battle yesterday and succeeded in having the primaries pushed off until next year..

Moshe Kachlon, the Minister of the Finance, revealed that Herzog and Labor were relatively close to coming to an agreement to join Netanyahu's government. Then came along the announcement of an investigation into some shady dealings that he had, and it torpedoed the efforts. Labor now, under Herzog, is not able to join, and no other party is really a realistic option to join and expand the government.

I do not know why this is the case. Why, in our political culture, does this investigation have to hinder Herzog in an attempt to join the government?

Aryeh Deri is also being investigated, for what is supposedly a more serious issue, and he and his party (Shas) are fine sitting in the government, and the coalition heads are also fine with them remaining in the government despite the investigation.

So, why should this be a problem for Labor if it isn't for Shas and Likud (and other coalition members that might have a say)?

who knew that Zakhlaka was a Likud supporter...

Labor is officially the Tel Aviv Party. Boojie is from Tzahela, Tzippi from Ramat Hachayal, Stav from Tel Aviv, Sheli from Tel Aviv... Ben Gurion is turning over in his grave in Sde Boker..

  -- Minister Naftali Bennet, commenting on the results of the Labor primaries

funny Bennet should say this, considering that he has turned the Mafda into a general party rather than a specifically Religious Zionist party.. he has an Arab running, secular Jews, one that used to be involved in the Reform movement, and the spectrum of religious Zionist Jews... the founders of Mafdal are also probably turning over in their graves...

My thoughts on the unification between Labor under Yitzchak Herzog and Hatnua under Tzippi Livni:

1. I am not quite sure how this is working. Are the two parties merging? Are they two separate parties running a joint list, similar to what Likud and Yisrael Beyteynu did last time? Is Hatnua folding and its members joining Labor?

2. Herzog was smart enough to take the first slot in the rotation. Going back to the foundation of the State of Israel, the average government has lasted about 2.5 years until new elections were called. By taking the first slot, Herzog guarantees for himself, if Labor should win the elections, the prime ministerial position, and the possibility of Livni's slot actually happening is a question.

3. I heard the press conference on the radio. I wonder why Tzippi Livni kept calling him "Herzog" and not using his first name, both names, his nickname Boojie, or Mr. Herzog. It sounded strange.

4. Herzog spoke about unity solving Israel's problems, specifically mentioning various aspects of the economy. While unity can do a lot and help overcome problems, I would have liked to hear his, or their, plan to solve the problems he says Netanyahu created of cost of living increases, Israelis not finishing the month, low salaries, etc. Unity is important and helpful, but I'd like to hear an actual plan for the problems he claims he will be able to solve.

5. Rotations for heads of government have generally been used in the past for unity governments. The one that comes to mind immediately was Shimon Peres and Yitzchak Shamir's arrangement. Doing a rotation of the prime minister position from your own party seems strange and seems to portray instability. I wonder how that will play out in the publics eyes in the coming weeks.

6. Still on the rotation, the pundits looking at the various polls and coming up with commentary based on them have been saying, prior to this agreement with Livni, that if Herzog wins his only option would be a unity government with the Likud. I don't know if that is true or not, but assuming the scenario the pundits talk about has a good chance of happening, how would such a rotation government work now - Herzog two years, Livni two years, and Netanyahu for how long? Would they each go down to 1.3 years? Will this arrangement mean that Herzog, if he should win, would no longer need to be limited to the sole option of a unity government?

7. if Labor should not win the elections in March, what happens to this unity? Will they say together? This seems to be Livni's ticket to the Prime Minister seat, but if that won't get her there, then what? will she jump ship again and look for another party to join?

We are trying to focus on establishing a political bloc as a block [to prevent Netanyahu from forming the government]. The voter has said something very clearly - the people are not interested in another government led by Netanyahu..

  -- MK Yitzchak "Boozie" Herzog (Labor)

I don't know. the fact that Likud still got far more seats than any other party, and that Labor did not even come in second, indicates to me that Herzog might be wrong...

Quote Of The Day

An IDF Chief of Staff who goes out of a government meeting in the middle of a top-secret discussion regarding going out to war, while he is sending troops out to battle, in order to sell his stock shares - he has done an act that has no possibility of forgiveness. he will not be in the Labor Party.

  -- Labor head Sheli Yachimovitch, after Dan Halutz announced he is leaving the Kadima party and requested to join Labor

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Slightly more of a surprise than Yair Lapid announcing his entry into politics was today's announcement by Noam Shalit that he is entering politics, and will campaign for a seat in the Labor party under Sheli Yachimovitz.

With the name recognition that he achieved during his amazing campaign to achieve freedom for his son Gilad, and the demeanor and respect with which he conducted himself, this was almost expected.

Some are upset about the move, calling it a cheap ploy, taking advantage of the national trauma, politicizing the entire ordeal, while others see nothing wrong with it - he was in the public limelight for so long that it is almost a natural transition. Some consider his choice of the Labor party rather than supporting Netanyahu to be almost a stab in the back. I don't think he is obligated to support Bibi and run under the Likud just because Bibi successfully negotiated Gilad's release. It was Bibi's responsibility as prime minister, just as it was Olmert's responsibility before that. he should have gratitude that Bibi went the extra mile to get it done, but that doesn't mean Shalit has to become  Likudnik. It was Israel that released Gilad, not the Likud.

Minister Gilad Erdan had the most interesting response of all. Erdan said that all the celebrities should wait and not enter politics just yet, leaving behind their careers. According to Erdan there is nothing pushing them to join right now, and doing so forces them to resign their current jobs. Considering that, according to Erdan, there is no intention to hold elections earlier than scheduled, it would be a shame to lose all this talent for so much time. They can take their time, continuing to work in their professions, and join the political arena at a later time, closer to the scheduled elections.

Amir Peret'z Haredi Supporters

In preparation for upcoming elections (eventually), the Labor party is trying to get its act together and choose a new leader. To that effect, the various candidates are gathering supporters and registering new members to the party. Amir Peretz in particular is coming under fire for fudging the ranks with non-Labor voters just to help himself in the primaries.

Peretz is criticized specifically using Netivot as an example - it seems his people signed up a lot of new members in the Haredi community of Netivot.

I don't know if this Haredi woman is going to actually vote for Amir Peretz or not, or if she will be voting Labor in any future elections even if Amir Peretz should win the primaries and lead Labor, but she came to speak at a rally for Amir Peretz.

Funnily enough, you'd think an experienced public figure like Amir Peretz would already know protocol and what is done in the Haredi community. Yet you see him at the end of the video going over to thank her and shake her hand, an offer that she refuses..

I am absolutely amazed that the remnants of the Labor Party have turned to Amir Peretz as the de facto leader of the party. He failed so miserably when he was the head of the Labor Party and was a major part of the labor decline, and now they turn to him as their leader (perhaps it is only until they stabilize and figure things out, but still..)..
Just Saying

I don't get it.

Why are the top people in the Labor Party letting a failed Amir Peretz set the tone and the agenda for the future of the party, and put himself in as the front-runner for party leadership? Peretz was a dismal failure.

Where is Avishai Braverman? Yitzchak Herzog? Even guys like Eitan Cabel or Ofer Pines-Paz (his name would go over real well around the world as Israel's leader) should be trying to set the tone for the party.

Where are all the other Labor guys that could be stepping in and showing themselves as leaders? Labor has some good guys who are capable as future leaders of the party. Why do they let Peretz take over like this?

It rained all night long in much of Israel last night. Unfortunately, because the winter has been so dry and warm, that rain was just a drop in the bucket relative to the amount we need...

The government is becoming desperate and is looking for solutions (I do not know if they are considering taking up Oren Zarif on his offer or not).

Shalom Simhon, the Minister of Agriculture, outgoing I must add considering elections are in 10 days, has come up with a new solution. The government is so desperate that anything is worth a try - Simhon has recommended that Mekorot, the authority in charge of Israel's water systems, change all their mezuzahs... He says that when Labor was hitting all-time lows in popularity, he had all the mezuzahs changed in the Labor offices, and now they have doubled their polling numbers.

I guess changing the mezuzahs caused Barak to go to war in Gaza, improving his poll numbers... If they listen to Simhon and change the mezuzahs at Mekorot, I hope it does not end up leading to war with Syria!!!

(source: YNET)

If you look carefully you will see the photographer snapped the shot as the billboard people were changing the sign. The result is a picture of Bibi in what looks like he is the head of the Labor party...

It is amazing the levels a person will stoop to when he is in trouble. It is the 11th hour for Ehud Olmert. Tomorrow is the big vote on whether to dissolve the Knesset or not because of Olmert's corruption.

Olmert's threats have not (visibly) had any affect on Ehud Barak, and he still insists that he will support, at least in the first reading, the bill to dissolve the Knesset.

Olmert has now resorted to more political bribery, but of the lowest kind. He has announced that any Labor member who splits ranks and votes to not dissolve the Knesset will immediately be accepted in Kadima and will be made a minister. He is directly meddling in internal affairs of a different party which is generally considered taboo in Israeli politics.

He is now, after many months of telling Shas that he will not bring back the child allowances that had been cancelled a number of years ago, is telling Shas that he might be willing to do so for their support against the bill to dissolve the Knesset.

Olmert is playing with our money, taxpayer money, to extend his own job for some more time.

There has never been a prime minister, and possibly never even a criminal, as corrupt as Olmert.