LABOR PARTY REBELS INCHING TOWARD A SPLIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 002466 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/10/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV IS SUBJECT: LABOR PARTY REBELS INCHING TOWARD A SPLIT Classified By: Political Counselor Marc J. Sievers for reasons 1.4 (b), (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Labor Party Knesset Members (MKs) opposed to Defense Minister Ehud Barak's leadership of the party continue to try to recruit the crucial fifth member to their ranks to enable them to formally split from the party. Labor MK Daniel Ben Simon, who had earlier this year sided with Barak, spoke to a gathering of rebel supporters on November 9, raising hopes among some that he would announce his open opposition to Barak. Ben Simon instead gave Barak what amounts to a two-month ultimatum to make some progress on the peace process with the Palestinians. Reaction was mixed, with party dissenters pleased with his appearance, while others remained convinced that the party should heed its earlier decision to remain in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition. If a split is to occur, the rebels will need to unify behind one leader; possibilities include MKs Amir Peretz and Ophir Pines-Paz, while some are trying to persuade Minister of Welfare Yitzhak Herzog, who thus far has not sided with the rebels, to take the reins of a new movement. Another possibility is for the group to split off to join the opposition Kadima Party. Talks between Kadima representatives and Labor dissidents reportedly have taken place. END SUMMARY. -------------- - LABOR IN THE NEWS, BUT IT'S THE SAME OLD STORY -------------- - ¶2. (SBU) During a busy week when many Israelis were focused on Prime Minister Netanyahu's meeting with President Obama and commemorating the assassination 14 years ago of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the Labor party managed to garner significant media attention with continuing displays of internal discord. Since Israel's general elections is February, Labor has been divided over whether the party should be a member of the government, with critics blaming Barak for providing a "fig leaf" to a right wing coalition that they see as opposed to Labor's core values. Barak, however, prevailed in the spring in a vote of the party's central committee on whether or not to join the coalition, but that decision failed to quiet left wing critics. The latest flare up came on November 8 when MK Ben Simon, the party's whip until he resigned the position last month, spoke at a meeting organized by the so-called Labor "rebels." Ben Simon's participation was notable because if he chooses to join the ranks of the rebels -- MKs Pines-Paz, Peretz, Yuli Tamir, and Eitan Cabel -- it would allow them to formally split from the party without penalty. -------------- BEN SIMON WALKS A FINE LINE -------------- ¶3. (C) Ben Simon told the 300 roaring attendees, including some from the left wing Meretz party, that he came to the conference to try to find a solution to the internal strife, and that he was not prepared to leave the party. He added, however, that if there were no real progress on the peace process in the next two months the rebels should work to form a new faction. An aide to Ben Simon told Poloff that the rebels have put significant pressure on Ben Simon to formally join them, but he is reluctant to be the one who "destroys" the Labor party, especially considering that he has been in the party for only one year. The aide added that Barak did not try to prevent Ben Simon's participation at the rebel conference, but Israeli media reported that both Barak and Netanyahu will seek meetings with the wavering Labor MK upon their return from Washington this week. -------------- MIXED REACTIONS -------------- ¶4. (C) The reaction from the Labor rank and file was mixed, not surprisingly. The rebels were pleased with Ben Simon's appearance at the conference, even if he did not provide them the crucial fifth vote. Among those within Labor who oppose his joining the rebels, some said that it was reasonable for him to attend the conference as long as he did not side with that group. An aide to Labor MK and Deputy Minister of Industry, Trade, and Labor Orit Noked told Poloff on November 9, however, that most of the party and most of the party's supporters remain behind Barak, partly because they support his policies, but also because they believe the central committee's vote earlier this year settled the question of Labor's participation in the government. Bolstering her assessment is the fact that no Labor mayors, regional managers, or major activists attended the conference a day earlier. TEL AVIV 00002466 002 OF 002 -------------- AFTER A SPLIT, WHO WILL LEAD? -------------- ¶5. (C) There is enough dissension in the rebel camp that makes a split a real possibility. Barak remains broadly unpopular within his party, though he gets high marks in opinion polls for his conduct as Defense Minister. Many see him as having cast aside Labor's traditional social-democratic ideals, and his more hawkish views contrast sharply with the party's core supporters who drove the Oslo peace process in the 1990s. The main problem for the rebels, however, is a lack of leadership. Party insiders tell us that Peretz and Pines-Paz are each vying to be head of any new movement that evolves from a split within Labor, and this jockeying, along with somewhat divergent political views, has hindered the rebels ability to coalesce as one movement. Peretz would seem to have more supporters due to his earlier tenure as head of the Histadrut labor federation; he had the largest group of supporters turn out for the conference earlier this week. But Peretz resigned in disgrace as Defense Minister in the Olmert Government over his role in the Second Lebanon War, and much of the Israeli public still regards Peretz as an incompetent bungler. Pines-Paz appears to enjoy broader popular support and likely has greater leadership potential among the dissidents and their supporters. Another possibility, however, is that the rebel camp could convince Welfare Minister Herzog to join their ranks. Israeli media reported on November 9 that Labor dissidents met with Herzog and promised that if he joined their ranks he could sit at the head of a new party. Herzog is well-regarded by the Israeli public, which suggests that he could bring additional activists to a new party. Herzog, a former Barak ally who has openly quarreled with Barak and who is on record as planning to run for party chairman, reportedly did not reject the offer. -------------- A TWO-PARTY SYSTEM? -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Another possibility is that Labor rebels could split off and join the Kadima Party, pulling the latter further away from its center-right origins and perhaps creating a meaningful center-left alternative to Likud. Some of the rebels have had talks with former MK Haim Ramon and current MK Dalia Itzik, each of whom left Labor in 2006 to join Kadima. Ramon also reportedly had talks with MK Tamir that touched on internal Labor politics. A report in the newspaper Ma'ariv said that Peretz and Tamir were open to joining Kadima, while Pines-Paz is more inclined toward establishing a movement that would include the Greens and Meretz. Kadima sources quoted in the Ma'ariv report claim that the Kadima party leadership would welcome the Labor rebels, though some lower-level Kadima MKs fear they would lose their seats in subsequent elections if a merger went through. CUNNINGHAM