opinion

Peace candidate Amir Peretz wins Labor Party leadership, defeating incumbent Shimon Peres

Good news from Israel

by Rabbi Michael Lerner --- Tikkun

For peace-oriented folk, the news from Israel the other day was great --- and presents a tremendous challenge for us: can those who want to support the peace process in Israel overcome their petty rivalries and small-mindedness and create a presence in the politics of the US, Canada, England, France and Germany that unequivocally supports an end to the Occupation of the West Bank and a "middle path" that is both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine. We at Tikkun are ready --- we'd like to work together with all other groups who can take this middle path, avoiding the rhetoric of demeaning either Israel or Palestine, and affirming the need for an end to the occupation of the West Bank as a first step toward the creation of the two states of Israel and Palestine living in peace with each other.

On November 10, members of Israel’s Labor party voted in their primary for the party chair. The result was a stunning upset for incumbent Shimon Peres (currently Israel’s deputy prime minister). Histadrut leader Amir Peretz won by a margin of 2.5 percent on a social-justice and peace platform dedicated to returning the Labor Party to its socialist roots. He similarly has promised voters that if elected he will pull the Labor Party out of its current coalition with Likud (Sharon’s party) and call for new elections.

Just as the Democratic Party undermined its own credibility in the United States by adopting the militarist rhetoric of the Republicans in the post 9/11 period to prove that they too were "tough," so the Israeli Labor Party under Shimon Peres had destroyed its position as an alternative to the right when it joined the Ariel Sharon government which imposed a unilateral withdrawal on Gaza as a way to strengthen its ability to withstand pressure to withdraw from the West Bank. Polls taken yesterday in Israel reveal that the implicit rejection of this path of alignment with the right has immediately increased the Labor Party's viability in the next election, though it has a long way to go to win majority support. If Labor ever becomes a fighting force for peace and social justice, as Amir Peretz might make possible, it could change the landscape in Israel and bring real reconciliation with Palestine. Yossi Beilin of the Israeli peace party Meretz (Yachad) and the negotiator of the Geneva Accord immediately signaled his interest in exploring an alliance between Meretz and the new Labor Party that will hopefully be remade under the leadership of Amir Peretz.

Not since Menachem Begin's election in 1977 has Israeli politics undergone such a dramatic change. Amir Peretz's election represents a generational, ideological and moral turning point in Israel's history.

·        As the new head of the Labor Party, Amir Peretz represents the best opportunity for concluding a final, just settlement with the Palestinians. He has been an outspoken opponent of Sharon’s unilateral approach towards the Palestinians. He was one of the original people in Peace Now.

·        Amir Peretz, Chair of Israel's Labor Party, and former head of the Histadrut (Israel's large labor federation) represents the best opportunity for overcoming the increasingly drastic levels of social inequality in Israel, because of his commitment to economic justice.

·        As an Israeli of Moroccan birth, Amir Peretz will address the need to finally integrate Sephardic and Mizrahi Israelis (Israelis of Middle Eastern descent) into the country's historically European-Jewish dominated social order.

·        Peretz's victory in the primary is indicative of the profound level of despair Israel’s middle and working classes are feeling, given the country's draconian economic restructuring policies under Sharon’s government. Israelis are ready for a change!