Fed up with the conduct of party leader Merv Michaeli, three other Labor MPs have decided to take action against him with the aim of eventually ousting him from the party, according to senior party officials.
The MKs – Gilad Kariv, Efrat Reten and Nama Lazimi – have decided to force Micheli to make all decisions with only his agreement, eroding his authority as leader of the centre-left party.
The plan was drawn up in extensive talks over the past few weeks, in light of a series of opinion polls predicting the centre-left Labor Party, which currently holds four seats, could sweep the political landscape at the next election. Could
They claim that Micheli has lost any remaining public legitimacy and is ruining the party, which led Israel for the first three decades of its existence.
A Labor insider told The Times of Israel, “It is very hard to come back from this kind of loss of public trust.” “The problem is that our situation worsens every day, so we have no choice but to take the lead ourselves.”
The anger at Miceli is palpable, in talks with three MPs, including last year’s election campaign and the key decision not to join forces with the left-wing Meretz party, which failed to enter the Knesset as a result, to the detriment of the prime minister. of the bloc of parties opposed to Benjamin Netanyahu.
The results of the Labor Party primaries are announced with Labor Party MK Gilad Kariv, second from right, and Naama Lazimi, leader of the Labor Party, Merav Michaeli, second from right, in Tel Aviv, August 9, 2022. (Tomer Newberg/Flash90)
If Michaeli does not agree to their demands, the MKs – who believe they are stronger than them in the party institutions – intend to pass a number of decrees against them.
The source said that while the party credits its successful March 2021 election campaign, in which it won seven seats, to Micheli, that achievement “is no longer a reason for him to destroy us.”
“Today the situation has reversed. We’re going backwards. We have no preparation, no renewal, nothing. It is anarchy,” said a senior labor official. “In the current situation, we have no choice but to remove Michaeli.”
The official said, “Since the elections, we have not just lost our way – we have seen the destruction of the party’s values. People tell me that we either need to save the party quickly, or bury it.” Is.
Labor Party leader Merav Micheli arrives for a faction meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem on November 28, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
Labor members are demanding equal power in the party, including the budget, party-owned property, the electoral list and other areas, including some relating to Labor’s role in the protest movement against the government’s now-frozen judicial overhaul plans Are.
labor on sunday announced the withdrawal from negotiations on the overhaul, claiming that backroom deals were being cut without party involvement.
A labor official told The Times of Israel that despite their presence at the talks, labor representatives felt they were not wanted at the presidential residence. “We wanted to participate in these talks, but we want to enter through the front door, not climb through the window.”
This report first appeared on Zaman Israel, the Hebrew site of The Times of Israel.
