By Rabbi Dow Marmur
JERUSALEM — He compared himself to Ben Gurion and Sharon, both of whom left the parties they were in charge of to form new ones, Ben Gurion formed Rafi (of blessed memory) and Sharon created Kadima, which still is the most likely mainstay of a new coalition. Peres and the late Moshe Dayan joined Ben Gurion when he broke away. One of Barak’s Labour opponents, on the other hand, said today that the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin must be turning in his grave.
To add insult to injury (some say in characteristic arrogant fashion) Barak kept everybody (other than the four who joined him) in the dark except none other than Prime Minister Netanyahu who seems to have helped him to plot today’s surprise move. If there’s any doubt where the new Barak faction stands, despite its rhetoric, the close liaison with Netanyahu should leave us in no doubt.
By calling themselves the Independence faction and describing themselves as “centrist, Zionist and democratic,” Barak’s gang of five sort-of implied that the eight who didn’t join them are leftist (which in Israel, too, in American fashion is becoming a dirty word), anti- or post-Zionist (a euphemism for “self-hating”) and less than democratic. That’s another insult hurled at the vocal critics within Labour who’ve maintained over a long period that Barak has sold out the party by becoming Netanyahu’s poodle besotted by his bone of being minister of defense. Barak, on the other hand, has maintained that he has kept the Netanyahu government honest and that without his presence it would have become totally in the grip of Liebermania.
The long-term implications of the surprise announcement this morning are difficult to judge. Each side tries to interpret it to its advantage. Netanyahu says that the move has stabilized his government. The spokespersons of what’s left of Labour say that the party will now have the opportunity to rebuild itself. Those who oppose both Labour and the Barak faction – probably because they aren’t part of the coalition – see today’s event as the beginning of the end of the current government. Kadima, as the party in waiting, immediately took advantage of developments and called for new elections.
Nevertheless, compared to what’s happening elsewhere in the region, the crisis in Israel – if, indeed, it is a crisis – is child’s play. No leader has had to flee the country, as in Tunisia, and no prime minister is under threat from a terrorist group, as in Lebanon. As critical as we may be of aspects of Israeli democracy and fearful of what some unscrupulous politicians may want to do to it, it is quite stable and functioning. The stock exchange, which sometimes is an indicator, wasn’t rattled by today’s events.
Being both simplistic and ignorant, I must admit to being pleased with today’s news. Though I’m in principle opposed to divorce, the marriage called the Labour Party was so dysfunctional and the relationship between its members so toxic that clearing the air in the way Barak has done this morning may make things better, not only for the country but also for the party itself.
If the eight who are still Members of Knesset on behalf of Labour can rally the rank-and file and establish a working relationship with others, notably Meretz, they may regain the voice of those Israelis who have become disenfranchised of late. It won’t be enough to form a government, but it may be enough for a credible opposition.
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Marmur is spiritual leader emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. He divides his year between Canada and Israel.