Irecently visited the Labour party headquarters in the UK as a guest of Labour Friends of Israel. I currently serve as the Israel Labor party whip in the Israeli parliament – the Knesset. We are a nineteen-member faction (out of 120 in the Knesset), the main opposition party to the Likud-led coalition of prime minister Ariel Sharon.
We have a longstanding relationship with Labour in the UK, as close members of the Socialist International and as parties who share common modern social democratic values. Even if we argue on issues, we have great respect and admiration for the Labour leadership, especially Tony Blair.
The purpose of the visit was to meet with senior members of the Labour party, including leading members of parliament, to demonstrate that there are a variety of opinions in Israel about how best to deal with the volatile situation in the Middle East. A few weeks later, these issues were discussed at Labour party conference where our secretary general, Ophir Pines-Paz, made an address on our behalf at the Labour Friends of Israel reception.
It is not very often that a different kind of message is delivered from our vibrant political arena. I come from one of the most interesting democracies in the world, where the judiciary is perhaps the strongest arm of government, where a national crisis lasts for about six hours, where the media is aggressive, and where the challenges are almost impossible.
The Israel Labor party, being the leading political force in the country for its first 50 years of existence, has been the main engine in promoting bold peace initiatives in the last decades. It was our leader, Yitzhak Rabin, who signed the Oslo accords and later was killed for his boldness. It was Ehud Barak, the leader under whom I served as cabinet secretary, who offered unprecedented concessions at the Camp David summit of summer 2000 and was rewarded by the huge wave of violence that we have witnessed ever since.
As a result, Labor in Israel today finds itself in its worst period ever. From a party of 44 members in the Knesset about ten years ago to nineteen today, we have suffered hugely from a disenchanted and disappointed Israeli public that yearns for peace and feels we may go too far to achieve it. That is the reason Ariel Sharon has become so popular: whilst Israelis are willing to pay an incredible price for peace, they believe it has to be handled by a tough leader who knows how to fight for them.
Meanwhile, the domestic situation in Israel has worsened, the economy is in a deep recession and the Likud government has initiated far-reaching Thatcher-style reforms. Our voice as a key opposition is suddenly attracting more and more support. The party has elected former prime minister Shimon Peres, a true international leader, Nobel Laureate for peace, to be its leader, for the short to medium term. We have reorganised our membership of about 80,000 and have adopted three main platforms: to fight terror without mercy, to separate the Israelis from the Palestinians by a defensive fence on an agreed-upon route (somewhere around the 1967 borders – even evacuating settlements and outposts unilaterally); and to offer a different social and economic agenda supporting the middle-class and lower-earning families from the harshness of government policy.
We believe that, through a united and coherent message, we can improve our political standing and present a real leadership alternative to Sharon and his colleagues. We definitely have a lot to learn, and the experience of our friends in the UK shows us it can be done.
We are two major political forces who share a common ideology on many issues. Labour in the UK has known major setbacks and found the inner strength to reform itself, meet the challenges of office and lead the nation. We in Israel will have to do the same.