Can the Labor Party in Israel be revived?
Can the party that helped found the country and led the government for decades be brought back to political prominence?
In an interview with the LA Times one of Labor's leaders, Daniel Ben-Simon comments on these and other questions.
Ben-Simon states that based on Labor's recent history of joining government coalitions that do not reflect the party's platform he believes it is nearer to the "Prostitution Party" than to Labor.
Where did Labor go wrong? The party is rooted in Israel's founding and now is on the verge of extinction.
This party founded the state, created the culture, the values, the jobs and the army. But after its 27 years of total dominance in power, Israelis rejected the party in 1977. Since then, the party has never really recovered.
Though I'm a member, I couldn't tell you the exact identity of this party. In the past 30 years, we have joined any government and we have given legitimacy to any idea. Most recently, we joined the most extreme [right-wing] coalition since the creation of the state. It's not a prostitution party, but it's nearly that. Israelis are sick and tired of it. In the last election, we got 13 seats. The natural decision would have been to go to the opposition. But we joined the coalition. Why? If we've been given a political death sentence, we deserve it. Israelis are saying: "My God, where is your honor? Where is your ideology?"
But traditional Labor ideology is all around today. Endorsement of a Palestinian state once defined the Labor Party; now it's widely accepted by almost everyone, even Likud leaders.
It's a kind of solace, a consolation for the poor. We have been winning on ideas but losing on the ballot. My impression is that Israelis vote for the right wing in order to carry out left-wing ideology. Most of what [former Prime Ministers] Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon did, and what [current Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is going to do, was created in our house. Despite that, Israelis don't vote for us.