IN A political bombshell, Labor leader Ehud Barak has quit the party, forming a separate faction, together with four other Labor members of Israel’s Knesset parliament.
It is expected the five-person faction, named Atzmaut (Independence), will stay in the coalition headed by prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and Mr Barak will stay on as defence minister.
However, other Labor ministers announced they were resigning from the government.
Four of the remaining eight Labour members of parliament were also expected to quit the party, essentially ending Labor’s role as a viable political entity.
Labor under Mr Barak (68) was beset with bitter political infighting. Two senior ministers, Isaac Herzog and Avishai Braverman, had already urged the party to quit the government in the coming months unless there was a breakthrough in the peace process with the Palestinians.
It appears Mr Barak realised the writing was on the wall and decided to jump before he was pushed.
Political commentators said Mr Netanyahu was not only party to yesterday’s surprise move, but actively encouraged it. He said the split from Labor strengthened Israel’s governing coalition.
“The government has grown much stronger today, in its governance, in its stability – and this is important for Israel,” he said. “The whole world knows, and the Palestinians know, that this government will be around for the next few years and that it is with this government that they should negotiate for peace.”
Even without the other eight Labour members, Mr Netanyahu will be left with a majority of 66 seats in the 120-member Knesset.
Mr Barak said it was a difficult decision to leave the party, but he noted former prime ministers David Ben Gurion, Shimon Peres and Ariel Sharon had also resigned from their parties. “We are facing difficult challenges, focusing on the peace process with the Palestinians, security-related and economic and social challenges. We are ready and willing to deal with all these challenges.”
Mr Barak criticised what he termed Labor’s “troubling drift to the left”. Matan Vilna’i, one of the Labor Knesset members who left with Mr Barak, said the party faction had become an intolerable place. “At every meeting, you never knew who was with you and who was ready to quit and join a different party,” he said.
Announcing his decision to quit the government, Labor minister Isaac Herzog said he was glad Mr Barak left the party as it presents a chance to save Labor. “We will serve the people from the opposition. The Netanyahu government has come to a standstill in the peace process and in dealing with Lieberman’s racist undertones. I will work with my colleagues to save the party.”
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni expressed the hope that the disintegration of the Netanyahu government will follow the disintegration of Labor. She called for new elections, saying the government had lost its legitimacy.