Yisrael Beytenu party head Avigdor Liberman and Labor chief Merav Michaeli went further in their criticism, calling on Netanyahu to resign.
Archiv: Labor Party (Israel)
Likud, protest leaders reject labor union’s compromise overhaul bill
Likud minister David Amsalem launched a public attack on Bar-David, anticipating that the latter could end up launching a nationwide strike.
“I remind you that you represent workers who are mostly Likud people who are struggling to make a living,” Amsalem tweeted. “The issue of the judicial reform should be decided in the Knesset, not in the corridors of the Mapai-like Histadrut,” he argued, citing the workers’ party that was a precursor to left-wing Labor and was the ruling party for Israel’s first three decades.
Israel‘s Opposition Overtakes Netanyahu Bloc to Reach Majority, Polls Show
According to the polls, conducted by Channel 12 and public broadcaster Kan, if an election were held today, the parties that make up the current ruling coalition – Netanyahu’s Likud, Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit, Shas and United Torah Judaism – would amass a total of just 54 seats, seven short of the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. The opposition, made up of National Unity, Yesh Atid, Yisrael Beytenu, Meretz, Ra’am and Labor, is projected to win 61 seats. Hadash-Ta’al would garner the remaining five seats.
Thousands of Israelis donate to Palestinian victims of riots
In less than 24 hours, Israelis gave more than $272,750 to help Palestinians whose homes and businesses were destroyed by dozens of rioting settlers in the northern West Bank town of Huwara on Sunday.
A 37-year-old Palestinian man was killed, 300 were wounded – four of them seriously – and dozens of buildings and vehicles were set on fire in the mass riot that followed the killing of two Israeli brothers in a terror shooting in the same town. Labor party member Yaya Fink started an online crowd-funding campaign the morning following the attack.
As a Dangerous Government Takes Over Israel, Top Hadash Leader See an Opportunity
(14.12.2022)
“At times like these, we must see the silver lining from an unfortunate situation. There is a new horizon we haven’t seen before,” said Odeh, speaking with Haaretz in his Washington hotel suite ahead of addressing J Street’s annual conference last week. Odeh said he began discussing such a renewal with figures in Meretz and Labor immediately after the election and promised that “in the next few months, the level of Jewish-Arab partnership will grow immensely.”
This Election Poll Made the Israeli Left Panic, as It Should
In the early stages of the campaign, when parties could still merge with others, Lapid begged Merav Michaeli, the leader of Labor, to join forces with Meretz. Even the James Webb telescope would fail to find ideological differences between the two parties. Michaeli, whatever her reasons may have truly been, shot down the idea. Now she could enter history books as the first Labor leader to remain beneath the threshold, and outside the Knesset.
9 Days to Election – KnessetJeremy Polling Average: Likud 31.6, Yesh Atid 24.3, Smotrich 13.4, Gantz 11.6, Shas 8.1, UTJ 7; Blocs Deadlocked
(October 23, 2022)
Smotrich made the most significant gain with a 0.6 jump. Liberman’s Yisrael Beitenu went up for the second straight week, this time by 0.3.
Likud dropped for the second consecutive week, this time by 0.5. Gantz also went down this week, this time by 0.3. Lapid’s Yesh Atid also lost 0.1.
Overall, we remain stuck at a 60-60 deadlock between the two blocs.
‘The Situation Is Worse Now’: Why Young Israelis Are Pitching Protest Tents in the Streets Again
The 2022 tents on Rothschild Boulevard went up a full week after the launch of the current protest movement, which officially began on June 13. On that day, the first tent compounds were seen in the north and south of the country – first in Pardes Hannah, and then Be’er Sheva, followed quickly by similar efforts in Holon and Rosh Ha’ayin, and subsequently Ramat Gan, Herzliya, Kfar Sava and elsewhere.
The fact that the current movement emerged – and is growing – in the periphery “testifies to the fact that it’s a truly grassroots phenomenon, and suffering is happening around the country,” says Guy
The „March of Flags“ in Jerusalem isn‘t a peacful protest. It is a VIOLENT SPREE, where racist settlers attack Palestinian bystanders, burst into homes, all while shouting „DEATH TO ARABS!“ The new Minister of Public Security @omerbarlev from Labor Party was WRONG to allow it
Acht-Parteien-Bündnis in Israel: Lapid gelingt Koalitionsbildung
Der 57-Jährige habe den israelischen Präsident Reuven Rivlin über die Regierungsbildung informiert, hieß es in einer Erklärung. Mit Vereidigung einer solchen Regierung im Parlament wäre die Ära von Netanyahu als Premierminister vorerst beendet.
#Israel: Interparty negotiations accelerate in an attempt to form a government i24NEWS @AlecHaimPollard with the latest
Lapid, Bennett, Sa‘ar meet to hammer out final coalition deal ahead of deadline
As coalition for change coalesces, Saar rejects Netanyahu offer
With Lapid apparently making strides in building government, New Hope leader nixes Likud offer for first slot in three-way rotation of premiership that would also include Yamina‘s Bennett; ‚Our commitment is to replace Netanyahu,‘ Saar says
In Last Ditch-effort, Netanyahu Offers Bennett, Sa‘ar Rotating Premiership Deal
The coalition of parties seeking to form a new government without Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party have hammered out an agreement on the assignment of senior cabinet positions if the coalition actually comes into being.
Naftali Bennett: The Yamina party chairman would be prime minister first, then foreign minister. Yair Lapid, Yesh Atid leader, would first serve as foreign minister, then prime minister. Ayelet Shaked: interior minister. Avigdor Lieberman: finance minister. Benny Gantz: The Kahol Lavan chief will continue to serve as defense minister. Gideon Sa’ar: justice minister. Merav Michaeli: The Labor Party chairwoman would serve as transportation minister.
The Israeli Labor Party. Their former leader, Shelly Yachimovich, said on Kan 11: It is better (!) that Ibtisam Mara‘ana, a Palestinian Arab woman in 7th place on their list, didn‘t get a seat because she would be a problem for their potential coalition partners
Israel: Labor party says it will back Yesh Atid chairman as next prime minister
Nachman Shai, a former lawmaker and number eight on the Labor party‘s list of candidates, made the announcement after the left-wing Meretz party made a similar proclamation earlier on Monday.
“We will recommend Yair Lapid… we think he can lead a coalition,” Shai told the Hebrew-language broadcaster. “For us, [Lapid] is the head of the bloc.”
Meretz Leader Says Will Recommend Lapid for Prime Minister After Election
Meretz is the first party in the center-left bloc that has officially announced its support for Lapid, while the Yesh Atid leader himself has avoided declaring his candidacy for the premiership.
Labor chairman Merav Michaeli and Kahol Lavan leader Benny Gantz have refused in recent weeks to pledge their support for Lapid.
Netanyahu drops in polls, Lapid hits 20, Bennett and Sa‘ar tie in third
The bloc that wants Netanyahu to form the next government – Likud, Shas, UTJ and the Religious Zionist Party – received 46 seats.
The bloc that does not want him to remain prime minister – Yesh Atid, New Hope, Yisrael Beytenu, Labor, Blue and White and Meretz – received 54.
Israel‘s Small Parties May Decide Election, and Pressure on Them Is Mounting
Yesh Atid will try to ratchet up pressure in the coming days on Kahol Lavan and Yaron Zelekha to quit the race, leaving to the left of Yesh Atid only Labor, Meretz and the Joint List. The departure of one or two slates from the bloc will increase the seats for the parties left standing and will help them pull in many floating votes.
The Israeli Left‘s Test: Standing Up for Arab Labor Candidate
The left must embrace Mara’ana and respect her opinions. She is married to a Jew, she joined a Zionist party – what more does Zionism expect of her? Other than collaborators, there are no Arabs who can feel any differently than she does. Neither is there a left wing except the kind that knows how to accommodate the positions of the members of the other people that lives here. Those who don’t stand up for Mara’ana are not left wing. They are right wing.
The Not-so-mysterious Death of the Israeli Left, Six Weeks to the Election. LISTEN
Labor was on the brink of extinction only a couple of weeks ago. Now it’s Meretz’s turn to signal polling distress. Why are Israel’s old parties of the left, once in power, now on life-support?
Let the Israeli Left Choose Their Own Leaders. Only Then Will They Replace Netanyahu
For now, opinion polls show that the left has no chance of defeating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Lawmakers Amir Peretz and Itzik Shmuli, by crawling into his government, have turned the Labor Party into a historical relic. Both Labor and Meretz have forgone primaries, leaving power in the hands of their leaders. There is no democracy in the parties of Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid either. This leaves Likud, embarrassingly, as the only democratic party.
A Bruising No-holds Barred Exchange: What We Saw in the Bibi-Lapid Showdown
Gantz has now destroyed his own credibility by joining Netanyahu’s coalition, so has Labor leader Amir Peretz. Lapid remains the only leader of a major party on the center-left. Netanyahu has no choice but to take him on. But while Lapid’s inexperience and dilettantism gives Netanyahu ample ammunition against the former chat-show host and columnist, it also creates a dilemma for him. Attacking Lapid with all guns blazing increases his popularity in the anti-Netanyahu camp, where many have had trouble taking Lapid seriously. Lapid, unlike Gantz, Gabbay and Herzog, is also prepared to follow Netanyahu into the mud.
The Likud Continues to Drop in Polls; Joint List Gaining Strength
Labor, Otzma Yehudit, Derech Eretz, Gesher and Bayit Yehudi all part of the right-wing coalition led by Netanyahu would not pass the electoral threshold (3.25%), according to the poll. Consequently, based on this poll, the right-wing bloc, would win a total of 60 seats, one short of a majority in the 120 seat Knesset.
Despite Despair, Israel‘s Left Must Pick Up and Move On
The left put former generals at its helm and failed (they joined the right), as well as civilian personalities, who also failed to deliver the goods. It tried a decentralized model, with Labor and Meretz running separately, and hit a wall. It learned its lesson and ran as a united front of multiple parties (Labor and Meretz, Kahol Lavan), also meeting no success. It flirted with a post-Zionist concept and a state of all its citizens (Meretz) or, alternatively, highlighting its Zionist image (the Zionist Union), failing both times in garnering public support. …
Netanyahu Is Above the Law
Every day that passes provides more proof of the twisted state of Israeli democracy, in which a defendant under criminal indictment leads the government and is a candidate to form the next one.
Israeli Labor Party Leader Mulls Joining Netanyahu Government
Peretz‘s decision to join the government does not dramatically alter the political balance, as there are only three Labor lawmakers in the new Knesset, and one of them, Merav Michaeli, might decide to defect to Meretz, which sits further left on the political specturm, if Labor joins Netanyahu.
Israel: Labor party chief approves Gantz-led minority gov‘t with Joint List support
Peretz said that he was still in touch with Orly Levy-Abekasis and was hoping to come to an accord regarding the steps to be taken in the future.
The Israeli Legislator Blocking a Center-left Government Must Resign
Levi-Abekasis decided on her own to opt for a political renewal and move from the right to the left. Naturally, her move triggered much suspicion, but she, Peretz and their partners dismissed these misgivings with disdain, even alleging anti-Mizrahi racism against anyone doubting that Levi-Abekasis had ideologically abandoned the right. After many efforts at convincing people, and based on the promises by the Labor-Gesher-Meretz alliance, people voted for the union she had joined.
Levi-Abekasis has the right to regret her transition.
The ‚Leftist‘ Who‘s Ruining Gantz‘s Chance to Form a Government
But Orli Levi-Abekasis, a balloon inflated with self-importance, someone devoid of ideology, with no electoral clout, a deceiving scoundrel, robbed the center-left bloc’s voters of this rare opportunity, probably triggering a fourth election.
Israel Election Results: Gantz Vows to Form a Government, Says Voters ‚Want an End to Netanyahu‘s Rule‘
Joint List MK and Balad Chairman Mtanes Shehadeh said Saturday following Gantz and Netenyahu‘s statements that „the arab community has spoken, they want a change in their position and aim for an end to discrimination and racism. Netanyahu would die to disqualify them but could not, and Gantz would have liked to ignore them but he couldn‘t.“
The Zionist Left Has Paved the Way to the Rise of the Extreme Right
“The disappearance of Labor and Meretz would mean the elimination of the only alternative on the left side of the political map,” writes my contemporary Uzi Baram (“Don’t be so quick to toss out the Zionist left,” Haaretz, January 20). And I ask him: Where were you and your friends during all those years when your camp held power in the country and paved the way for the extreme right that holds power today? They are only continuing the path you began, and doing so openly and also openly saying: “Truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of us.” But you did and you lied, you did and you deceived.
For Israel‘s Left, Jewish-Arab Partnership ‚Unwanted,‘ Activists Charge After Merger
In contrast, the Joint List of Arab-majority parties did not conceal its satisfaction over the move. They sent their blessing to Meretz and Labor over the union, taking into account Israel’s larger political context, but also for probably boosting participation in the Arab electorate. “Members of the Zionist left who believe in Jewish-Arab partnership and in social justice are welcome to join the Joint List,” said Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman.
Barak: Leaving Shaffir out is a ‚serious mistake‘
Former Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday welcomed the expected union between the Labor and Meretz parties, but expressed concern over the fact that Green Movement chairwoman Stav Shaffir was left out of the alliance.
Israel‘s two historic left-wing parties announce merger
Leaders of the Labor-Gesher and Meretz parties, Amir Peretz and Nitzan Horowitz, stood alongside each other as they announced their merger at a press conference held in Beit Sokolov in Tel Aviv on Monday evening.
“If you want to vote Right you can vote for Likud or Blue and White,” Horowitz said in a tongue-in-cheek manner, placing Benny Gantz’s alliance together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s right-wing base.
Israel‘s Left Is Acting Like It Really Doesn‘t Want Any Votes
It seems as if our leftist politicians have simply given up all hope, or pretense, of getting their act together.
Now they are looking to Kahol Lavan leader Benny Gantz, hoping he will be so kind as to stick his hand into the wading pool in which they are drowning, pull them out and sit them down nicely one next to the other.
Despite Doubts, Israeli Left-wing Parties Due to Discuss Election Merger
Israeli Labor and Meretz parties are expected to discuss the possibility of running together in the upcoming Knesset election, say sources familiar with talks between the two parties.
Negotiating teams on their behalf – or the two leaders themselves – are expected to meet in the next few days, in advance of the deadline for formal submission of party slates to the Central Elections Committee, in nine days‘ time.
Labor, Meretz, Come Down to Earth
Meretz is even more vulnerable in the polls and is liable to pay the price. That’s why Peretz has allowed himself to stand on the sidelines and insist on realizing his dream. And therefore, he is the one who must pay the price for this reckless gamble.
The Left Must Unite Now
The danger is clear and present. If either Labor or Meretz (in its present wrapping as the Democratic Union) do not make it into the next Knesset, the right will enjoy a crushing victory, with Netanyahu forming a coalition that will grant him immunity from facing trial while destroying the judicial system and annexing the West Bank.
The results of the last two elections, as well as recent opinion polls, show that these two parties, especially Meretz, face the risk of collapsing.
The Israeli Center-left Must Open Its Eyes
The leader, who has been indicted for bribery, is hysterically yet soberly and determinedly pulling out all the stops to save himself from having to face justice. In so doing, he continues endlessly to incite, to divide, to threaten to take credit for others’ achievements and to lie. He and his family are prepared to burn down the house, and with it the norms of public life in Israel. A century ago, the Irish poet W. B. Yeats bewailed the blindness of leaders who brought on the apocalypse of World War I:
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
Sounds familiar?
As Election Nears, Labor Party Leader Draws Fire for Stalling Left-wing Merger
On Wednesday, Labor’s convention will meet to approve retaining Labor’s existing Knesset ticket – which includes a partnership with MK Orli Levi-Abekasis’ Gesher party – aside from one change that has infuriated some Labor Knesset members: Peretz will be allowed to put two additional candidates of his own choice in the ticket’s top 10 slots.
Israel’s Left Has Forgotten What It Means to Be Leftist
Belonging to the left means holding a wide-ranging worldview, based on the belief that all humans are born equal, worthy of equal and fair treatment. This is why the left fights for weaker segments of society, for laborers and for migrants. This is why a true left must fight for people who are living under an occupation that deprives them of the most fundamental rights while preventing them from fulfilling their national aspirations of living in a state of their own, alongside Israel.
Ex-tycoon, News Publisher Indicted for Bribery in Netanyahu Cases
(21.11.2019)
Arnon (Noni) Mozes, the publisher of Israel‘s largest daily newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, is indicted for bribery in Case 2000, and Shaul and Iris Elovich are indicted for bribery, obstruction of justice and obstruction of the investigation.
In February, the attorney general announced that he was closing the cases against several other suspects in the Netanyahu cases; among them were the premier‘s wife Sara, Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan and Knesset member Eytan Cabel (Labor-Gesher).
It’s almost unthinkable, but how would a minority government work?
(17.10.2019)
In principle, the candidate whom the president grants the right to form a government does not need a majority of 61 to do so. All that is really needed is a situation in which more hands vote in favor of the government than oppose it.
If Center-left Forms Gov‘t With Haredis, We May Support It, Arab Israeli MK Says
MK Ofer Shelah of Kahol Lavan, who was interviewed after Tibi, said he did not rule out such a proposal.
Israel Election Results: Netanyahu Suffered Defeat Despite the Center-left’s Abysmal Campaign Flop
It could have ended far worse. If Netanyahu had won a few more Knesset seats, he would have secured immunity from prosecution, set up the most extreme government in Israeli history and finished his demolition derby of the country’s democracy. A rare convergence of favorable circumstances – chiefly the uptick in Arab voter participation, the failure of Kahanist Otzma Yehudit and the indifference of Likud voters – combined to spare Israel from a disaster that would have changed the country forever.
Next phase in Israel is government formation. President Rivlin decides who gets the right to try. Gantz only has mandate to form a government without Bibi. Lieberman and Odeh (Arab Joint List) will likely recommend Gantz because they both want Bibi gone.
Two Days to Election: Netanyahu Goes to DEFCON 1, Guns Blazing, in Last-ditch Effort to Sway Voters
In the process, Netanyahu has successfully relegated what was supposed to be the central issue of this election – his alleged corruption and prospects of indictment – to the sidelines. He has deftly shifted the focus of the campaign to his fortes in national security and foreign affairs. Come what may, he has proven once again that he is the undisputed heavyweight champion of Israeli election campaigns, making his rivals look like clueless amateurs in comparison.
‚If Netanyahu Wins, Turn Out the Lights‘: Meet the Most Die-hard Opponents of Israel‘s ‚Crime Minister‘
As a young Israeli studying abroad, I recently came home for a visit eager to discuss the upcoming elections with family and friends – but found an atmosphere of utter apathy. So I decided to go find people who were actually getting involved, and that’s how I ended up meeting Elisheva and her fellow protestors.
Four Days to the Election, Netanyahu’s Last-minute Surge Hinges on Millennial Apathy
(14.09.2019)
His victory hangs on the fates of racist Otzma and leftist Labor – and on right-wingers coming out in droves while leftists go to the beach