In recent weeks, former Prime Minister/Defense Minister and Labor party leader Ehud Barak, has been working behind the scenes to build a united left-wing coalition. The head of the Yesh Atid opposition party, MK Yair Lapid, has already announced he will not join Barak’s initiative.
About a week ago, News10 reported that Barak met with Opposition Leader MK Tzipi Livni, as well as with former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, in his home in the Assuta Tower in Tel Aviv. Barak reportedly met with Livni during the morning hours and with Ya’alon during the afternoon hours. The report cites that the possibility of a new centrist/left-wing bloc has been on the agenda for some.
Persons in Livni’s circle explain “it is no secret that she meets with others” towards uniting forces and to link with the Machane Tzioni party headed by Avi Gabbai. Recent polls show that that the Machane Tzioni party headed by Gabbai would most likely lose about half of its 24 seats in elections, painting a bleak picture which seems to compel Livni to seek out new talent to add to the party lineup.
Persons close to Livni add that “it is too premature” right now for concrete talks, as ongoing discussion appears to be more in the realm of theoretical. The same was released from officials close to Ya’alon, as he has announced he is preparing for the next Knesset elections, including the possibility of launching his own party. Most recent polls show that a party headed by Ya’alon would not receive the minimum of four seats required to enter Knesset.
Correspondent Yehuda Schlesinger reported in the Yisrael Hayom daily that Lapid has ruled out joining the current unity bloc being created by Barak in its current format.
Others feel that Barak’s time has past and “he is not Benny Gantz”, who the polls show can muster enough votes if he enters politics to become the second largest party in Knesset. They explain “he is not in the consensus and will not bring more votes than Lapid”, referring of course to Ehud Barak.
Last week, in an interview with Israel’s Reshet Bet Radio, Barak said, “The meetings between people who think that this government is bad and that it should be replaced for many months have not been conclusive, but it is true that the upcoming elections are fateful. Avi Gabbai can certainly be an excellent Prime Minister. He is an excellent candidate.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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That strategy would be possible in a “first past the post” system such as the United States or Britain, but under proportional representation, Barak needs to concentrate his appeal on those closest to himself in ideology (since Barak is a moderate leftist, he needs to attract the moderate rightists, and the religious).