Tamar Zandberg, The Labor Party doesn’t rise to the leadership challenge

Tamar Zandberg, The Labor Party doesn’t rise to the leadership challenge

For a year now Buji Herzog has been going out of his way to tell us that the Labor Party is not negotiating to join the coalition. It’s all “nonsense.” The Labor Party will not join this government. For a year now it didn’t sound reliable. Why? Because it wasn’t true.

This morning Yossi Verter revealed the draft coalition agreement with the positions the Labor Party was supposed to acquire in return for joining the most extreme right-wing government Israel has ever had. He also revealed the reason the negotiation had failed. It wasn’t that the Labor Party suddenly grew a moral fiber. It failed, embarrassingly, because Netanyahu heard of the corruption allegations against Herzog and changed his mind. For now, the Labor Party isn’t joining the government. For now, because with the Labor, it is always temporary.  

I do not think there has ever been a more effective way to transfer votes from left to right. I am thinking about all those left-wing voters who wanted peace, social justice and a different leadership. They voted for Herzog because they believed he will be able to finally replace Bibi. Now, they are forced to see their representatives explain to them that the Right was really right all along, how terrible are the leftists, why we cannot replace Netanyahu right now. Worse yet – I am thinking about these left-wing voters watching their leader lying to them for a year.

I am not gloating, when writing this, I feel a lot of pain and a sense of urgency. I don’t think we should mourn for the Labor Party. I’m sure it will come to its senses. Our camp – more importantly our country -need a leadership that can rise to the challenge of offering an alternative to the right wing rule. We need a leadership that will offer us hope for a better future. The current Labor leadership does not seem to be capable. Neither does it want to.

For the original Hebrew post 

Translator: Maya Haber

By | 2016-04-08T10:30:31-04:00 April 8th, 2016|Blog|2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Claudia Chaves (Shaves) April 8, 2016 at 12:06 pm - Reply

    Dear MK Zandberg: I so much appreciate all that you personally and all the Meretz MK’s and the party have been doing in holding others accountable and in really fighting for what is best in Israel! Six months ago I contacted you with a proposal called “A Leadership Equal to the Task” and spoke with a person in your staff who replied to me — and I am hoping for engagement on your part with these ideas since clearly a different leadership formula is needed. I translated it into Hebrew and will send it again to your Knesset e-mail with the fervent hopes that you will seriously consider it. Anyone else who reads this post and is interested is invited to participate as well, just let me know where I can send you the initiative. Thank you, Claudia

  2. Cassie August 9, 2016 at 5:41 pm - Reply

    This is what we need – an insight to make evryeone think

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