"Death of the ethnic demon"
Israel’s political structure was spun on its head this week with the unexpected ousting of the Labour leader, Shimon Peres, in a closely fought battle. His successor, Amir Peretz, signalled immediately that he intends to withdraw his party from the coalition government that has ruled Israel for the past four years, and turn Labour back to its socialist and welfare-state roots. In the week of the tenth anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination, Peretz promised to return to the slain premier’s desire for a negotiated peace with the Palestinians. But will Peretz’s election re-energise the Israeli left, or spell its death knell?
The rise of Peretz comes at a time when the state of Israel is undergoing a period of political upheaval. The withdrawal from the Gaza Strip did not, as many had predicted, plunge the country into civil unrest; most Israelis supported the pullout beforehand, and the relative ease with which it was accomplished has seen the scheme’s architect, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, shore up his popularity across the country. However, Sharon’s popularity amongst his own Likud party has plummeted, with the majority of Likud Knesset members (or MKs) mortified at the return of the Palestinians’ rightful land. Sharon has walked a very fine line between the wishes of his party, and the desires of the electorate; indeed, this has only been possible with Labour’s backing in the Knesset. Now that backing is going, Sharon will be forced to call an early election, most likely in March 2006.
Sharon’s grip on the Likud leadership now looks increasingly perilous. His former finance minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, quit the government in protest at the Gaza withdrawal. He has long been planning to wrest the leadership from Sharon’s grasp, and – with the majority of Likud MKs supporting him – he may well see now as the ideal time. Where this leaves the country’s political structure is a matter of debate amongst Israelis. Even if he loses the Likud leadership, Sharon could well still prevail by forming a new political party; polls suggest that he would still draw enough support in the Knesset to win another term as prime minister as the head of any new organisation, although he may well depend on Labour support to achieve it.
It will be interesting to see how responds to a resurgence of Labour’s socialist roots. Once a divisive figure, and with a war-crime charge awaiting him in the Hague, Ariel Sharon has earned widespread respect across the country for his success in withdrawing from Gaza. Despite the unfinished nature of this withdrawal – the Israelis still control the borders and are currently restricting the import and export of goods within the Strip – the consensus is that Sharon took a bold step, one that ran against the grain of opinion within his own party, and should be congratulated for having the bravery to do so. A Labour party in touch with its socialist roots may well challenge this consensus. On Monday, Peretz submitted his first bill as Labour leader – he wishes the Knesset to consider offering West Bank settlers the same amount of compensation as the former Gaza settlers, if 60% of any settlement’s residents voted to do so. A clearer decision of his intent to withdraw totally from the West Bank would be difficult to imagine.
How these signals will be received in Israeli society will be seen over the coming months. But Peretz can certainly expect a bumpy ride, as many – including a significant number in his own party – are wary of his doveish views. But Peretz is nothing if not tenacious. He claimed last week that he his election represented the ‘death of the ethnic demon’; as a Sephardic Jew, of Mahgreb descent (he moved from Morocco as a child), Peretz is a rarity in high level Israeli politics which is dominated by Ashkenazim, or Jews of European descent. Following the right-wing bent that Labour embarked on following Rabin's assassination, whereby Peres, then his successor Ehud Barak maintained the fiction that the Israelis had "no partner for peace" (as is pointed out here), the party of peace finally has a leader who can give the country what it needs: a viable political alternative. Whether his attempt to wrest Labour back to its socialist routes ends in improbable success or spectacular favour, Peretz has shaken up an Israeli political landscape appeared to be wedded unswervingly to Likud’s right-wing agenda.
The rise of Peretz comes at a time when the state of Israel is undergoing a period of political upheaval. The withdrawal from the Gaza Strip did not, as many had predicted, plunge the country into civil unrest; most Israelis supported the pullout beforehand, and the relative ease with which it was accomplished has seen the scheme’s architect, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, shore up his popularity across the country. However, Sharon’s popularity amongst his own Likud party has plummeted, with the majority of Likud Knesset members (or MKs) mortified at the return of the Palestinians’ rightful land. Sharon has walked a very fine line between the wishes of his party, and the desires of the electorate; indeed, this has only been possible with Labour’s backing in the Knesset. Now that backing is going, Sharon will be forced to call an early election, most likely in March 2006.
Sharon’s grip on the Likud leadership now looks increasingly perilous. His former finance minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, quit the government in protest at the Gaza withdrawal. He has long been planning to wrest the leadership from Sharon’s grasp, and – with the majority of Likud MKs supporting him – he may well see now as the ideal time. Where this leaves the country’s political structure is a matter of debate amongst Israelis. Even if he loses the Likud leadership, Sharon could well still prevail by forming a new political party; polls suggest that he would still draw enough support in the Knesset to win another term as prime minister as the head of any new organisation, although he may well depend on Labour support to achieve it.
It will be interesting to see how responds to a resurgence of Labour’s socialist roots. Once a divisive figure, and with a war-crime charge awaiting him in the Hague, Ariel Sharon has earned widespread respect across the country for his success in withdrawing from Gaza. Despite the unfinished nature of this withdrawal – the Israelis still control the borders and are currently restricting the import and export of goods within the Strip – the consensus is that Sharon took a bold step, one that ran against the grain of opinion within his own party, and should be congratulated for having the bravery to do so. A Labour party in touch with its socialist roots may well challenge this consensus. On Monday, Peretz submitted his first bill as Labour leader – he wishes the Knesset to consider offering West Bank settlers the same amount of compensation as the former Gaza settlers, if 60% of any settlement’s residents voted to do so. A clearer decision of his intent to withdraw totally from the West Bank would be difficult to imagine.
How these signals will be received in Israeli society will be seen over the coming months. But Peretz can certainly expect a bumpy ride, as many – including a significant number in his own party – are wary of his doveish views. But Peretz is nothing if not tenacious. He claimed last week that he his election represented the ‘death of the ethnic demon’; as a Sephardic Jew, of Mahgreb descent (he moved from Morocco as a child), Peretz is a rarity in high level Israeli politics which is dominated by Ashkenazim, or Jews of European descent. Following the right-wing bent that Labour embarked on following Rabin's assassination, whereby Peres, then his successor Ehud Barak maintained the fiction that the Israelis had "no partner for peace" (as is pointed out here), the party of peace finally has a leader who can give the country what it needs: a viable political alternative. Whether his attempt to wrest Labour back to its socialist routes ends in improbable success or spectacular favour, Peretz has shaken up an Israeli political landscape appeared to be wedded unswervingly to Likud’s right-wing agenda.
posted by DN at 2:40 PM
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