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The Israeli Left Scurries to Reinvent Itself Before Upcoming Parliamentary Elections…….

Amos Oz, famous Israeli literary professor, political pundit and author of numerous books who once opined that “the Israeli Labour party has concluded its historic role”, is one of the supporters of an all new Israeli political party, the Social Democratic Party, (SDP).

Early next year, Israel will be holding parliamentary elections in which presently, the right wing Likud party holds the front running position, and would stand to win hands down if elections were held right now. Labour, at least some former members of Labour (and Meretz) who know that the handwriting is on the wall for that dinosaur of a party, have embarked on a new journey in a somewhat similar fashion as did former Likud members under the tutelage of the then, Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, when they founded the Kadima party a few years ago.

Labour, as is, stands not a chance in winning the upcoming elections, and has an even a slimmer chance of sitting in a coalition government once it is coalesced by a victorious Likud or (by an outside chance) a Kadima party.

ANSAmed: TEL AVIV, DECEMBER 5 – Plans for a new Israeli social democratic party, which has found support among celebrated writers (including Amos Oz, A.B. Yehoshua and David Grossman), were outlined today in a theatre in Tel Aviv before a crowd of hundreds of sympathisers. The organisational framework for the new party will be provided by Meretz, the left-wing Zionist party which currently has five seats in the Knesset.

The aim of Meretz’s leader, Haim Oron, is to strengthen the party by uniting new and dynamic political forces (including the Greens), which until now have remained on the margins of active politics. With early general elections scheduled for February 2009, the new party (which still has no definitive name) hopes to “inspire new hope among Israelis” and aims to claim consensus among former supporters of Labour and Kadima, with the eventual objective of becoming the main political force of Israel’s centre-left.

Former members of Labour and Meretz are jumping ship …with the help of Meretz party members, (who said Israeli politics were simple?) to the new party, who hope to be snapped up by the winning incoming party as part of a ruling coalition government. Who knows, they may succeed at Labour’s expense, but one thing is for sure, the traditional Labour Party’s days truly seem numbered. Perhaps Amos Oz was correct after all? KGS

H/T: Baron Bodissey

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