Israel Matzav

Labor to push socialism, skip 'peace process'

This may be speculation on my part, but based on who won and who lost in the Labor party primary on Thursday, I would venture to guess that Labor's voters are a lot more interested in returning the country to socialism (God forbid) than they are in the 'peace process.'

The proof? High placements of the likes of (former Welfare Minister) Yitzchak Herzog, (former Histadrut Labor Union Chairman) Amir 'Comrade' Peretz, (social protest leader) Stav Shafir and (student union head) Itzik Shmuly, and out-of-the-money placements for (selfish hypocrite) Noam Shalit and ('Peace Now' chairman) Yariv Googleheimer Oppenheimer.

The vote showed how much influence party leader Yacimovich has, as opposed to the growing opposition within Labor led by MK Amir Peretz. Yacimovich has tried in recent weeks to position Labor as a centrist party, saying on Tuesday night that she hoped the list would not be “too left-wing.”

Former defense minister Amir Peretz got the third spot, followed by Itan Cabel, former Haaretz columnist Merav Michaeli and MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. Herzog received 3,000 votes more than rival Peretz.

Peretz told Israel Radio he is pleased with the results. "I'm very pleased with what we got here today - both important experienced Labor members, people I've aided, and new, young members that I believe will help the Labor party," Peretz said.

Peretz stated he intends to "bring back the diplomatic agenda to the negotiating table" in the 19th Knesset. "I was the first to put the social topic on the agenda, but without peace we can't fix the social issue," Peretz told Israel Radio.

Leaders of the summer 2011 social protest Stav Shaffir and Itzik Shmuly also got high spots, with Shaffir getting the 8th spot and Shmuly getting the 12th spot.

Michaeli and Yacimovich are not the only former journalists to receive high spots on the party's list, investigative journalist Mickey Rosental got the 13th spot on the list.

Noam Schalit came through just 39th on list after he left his hi-tech job and met Labor members across the country for a year, whilst Peace Now former secretary-general Yariv Oppenheimer came in 27th.

Yacimovitch was trying to attract Tzipi Livni to run with her. Maybe she should send Livni Shalit and Oppenheimer instead. 

Labels: Amir Peretz, Labor party, Noam Shalit, Shelly Yacimovich, Yitzchak Herzog

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:21 PM