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Inside Israel

Labor seeks gov?t policy takeover


By Ryan Jones
June 21, 2004

Ignoring the will of Israel’s electorate, the leftist Labor Party is demanding the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon alter its diplomatic, security and economic policies in return for the political unity that would save it from collapse.

On Sunday, Labor chief Shimon Peres, an avowed socialist, attacked Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s capitalist reforms as “greedy.” Shortly after, another Labor MK confirmed his party would require the treasury portfolio if it is to join a national unity government.

Peres has also insisted Sharon agree to restart “peace” negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and set a firm timetable for uprooting the Jews of not only Gaza, but Judea and Samaria as well.

Without Labor’s support, Sharon’s minority coalition is in constant danger of being forced from power in one of the Knesset’s frequent no-confidence votes.

Sharon’s comments and actions over the past year indicate the prime minister is ready for a full shift to the secular leftist policies the Israeli public overwhelming rejected in the 2003 national elections.

Rejected policies

For the past decade, Israel’s Labor Party has pushed the nation in the direction of compromise with its defeated but belligerent Muslim enemies, even when that compromise was one-sided.

Accepting the worldview that the Jews have no right to their God-given lands in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, and that a fictitious nation known as “Palestine” instead deserves sovereignty there has been the mainstay of Labor politics since the early 1990’s.

On the economic front, Labor has long espoused a socialist program that stunted Israel’s burgeoning free market economy and ultimately led to financial collapse in the face of increased “Palestinian” terror.

Netanyahu’s Reagan-style capitalist policies, which have resulted in economic growth after only one year of implementation, were attacked as “greedy” by Peres on Sunday.

Labor’s economic, security and especially diplomatic policies were overwhelmingly rejected when the Israeli public instead chose Sharon to lead the nation in the 2003 national elections.

Democracy hijacked

But in defiance of the public will, Peres and his Labor colleagues said over the past week they expect Sharon to alter his government’s polices to fit Labor’s designs if the prime minister wants to stay alive politically.

Sharon faces the constant threat of being forced from office after being left with a minority coalition as a result of his “Gaza-first” retreat plan.

Sharon’s shift

Former supporters have lamented Sharon’s shift during his first 18 months in office from his original election platform to one more in line with that of the Labor Party.

Prior to January 2003, Sharon vowed he would crush the threat of “Palestinian” terror, never negotiate under fire with the PA or offer a unilateral prize for violence, and revive Israel’s battered economy.

After failing to unleash the full power of the IDF against the terrorist threat, holding lengthy negotiations with the PA, and initiating a one-sided retreat from the Gaza Strip, most observers expect him to also sacrifice Netanyahu and his capitalist policies in order to forge and alliance with Labor.

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