 Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak pauses during a press conference on Monday in the Israeli Knesset to announce his split from the Labor Party. AP photo. |
Observers of the Israeli politics have said Ehud Barak, Israel’s defense minister, collaborated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in strategically planning the Labor Party’s downfall by cutting the party’s membership, utilizing the so-called ‘party laws.’
New information provided by academics and political insiders paints the picture that a more calculated set of events led to the recent party split, which has turned the Labor Party in Israel upside down in the last week.
“I assume that you have to coordinate such a thing, and Netanyahu surely knew of the move,” Professor Gideon Doron, chairman of Israel’s Political Association at Tel Aviv University told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review in a recent interview.
“With regards to the breakaway of Barak and his four loyal parliamentarians from the Labor Party, it only became possible as a result of a preemptive and secret move made over two weeks ago.”
The defection of five members from the Labor Party, led by Barak, to form the separate Atzmaut, or Independence Party on Jan. 17, came as the result of a month-long internal party dispute regarding members’ approaches to peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
While the Labor Party accused Barak of maintaining intolerable leadership methods and following a right-wing agenda, the breakaway faction said the party had become ungovernable. According to Einat Wilf, one of the five parliamentarians who defected, the situation came about because of the unruly and increasingly anarchic situation within the Labor Party.
“The party became ungovernable and people were going against the elected chairman, leading to anarchy without any party discipline” she told the Daily News.
On the other hand, Labor Party Secretary-General Hilik Bar said Barak had “gutted democratic and internal institutions, while turning the party away from the social democratic values of justice.”
Conspiracy and pre-planning
The factional split, which has left the Labor Party and the peace negotiations with the Palestinians in turmoil, is said to have been calculated weeks ago in order to secure funding for the newly formed breakaway Independent Party.
Sources say Barak actively pursued a plan of lowering his party’s membership so his splinter group could represent exactly one third of the Labor Party – the minimum number needed under Israeli party law to establish a new breakaway party and still receive state funding.
“It was a dirty trick, but fortunately for us he left and gave the Labor Party hope to continue,” Daniel Ben Simon, an Israeli Labor Party parliamentarian, told the Daily News.
Similarly, Doron said Barak utilized his own party membership in the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, to be able to break free and receive funding to operate the Independence Party.
“It’s pure survival, and Barak strategically played his cards so that he would lower the party membership and his five backing members would become one third of the party, thereby being able to secure legitimate party funding and break away,” he told Daily News.
Besides his week-long strategic planning, Barak has also been openly accused of negotiating directly with Netanyahu in an effort to destabilize the Labor Party in order to create the new Independence Party.
According to Bar, negotiations between Barak and the right wing all happened within a week, while Netanyahu’s involvement appeared very obvious.
“Bibi [Netanyahu] did not even deny his collaboration, which should be a very good indication,” Bar said.
According to other internal sources, the relationship between Barak and Netanyahu was carefully planned weeks in advance, which allowed for the careful and strategic manipulation of party political processes.
“The ties were planned ahead and the pure betrayal of the Labor Party should indicate who Barak truly is,” said an unnamed Knesset source.
Wilf strongly denied the allegations that the fracture in the party was calculated, adding that the prime minister was only informed of the split out of sensitivities to the stability of the government. All other accounts of the split are simply “fabricated conspiracies,” she said.
“All these conspiracy theories about negotiations and pre-planned strategies for funding have absolutely nothing to do with the truth,” she told the Daily News.
New information provided by academics and political insiders paints the picture that a more calculated set of events led to the recent party split, which has turned the Labor Party in Israel upside down in the last week.
“I assume that you have to coordinate such a thing, and Netanyahu surely knew of the move,” Professor Gideon Doron, chairman of Israel’s Political Association at Tel Aviv University told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review in a recent interview.
“With regards to the breakaway of Barak and his four loyal parliamentarians from the Labor Party, it only became possible as a result of a preemptive and secret move made over two weeks ago.”
The defection of five members from the Labor Party, led by Barak, to form the separate Atzmaut, or Independence Party on Jan. 17, came as the result of a month-long internal party dispute regarding members’ approaches to peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
While the Labor Party accused Barak of maintaining intolerable leadership methods and following a right-wing agenda, the breakaway faction said the party had become ungovernable. According to Einat Wilf, one of the five parliamentarians who defected, the situation came about because of the unruly and increasingly anarchic situation within the Labor Party.
“The party became ungovernable and people were going against the elected chairman, leading to anarchy without any party discipline” she told the Daily News.
On the other hand, Labor Party Secretary-General Hilik Bar said Barak had “gutted democratic and internal institutions, while turning the party away from the social democratic values of justice.”
Conspiracy and pre-planning
The factional split, which has left the Labor Party and the peace negotiations with the Palestinians in turmoil, is said to have been calculated weeks ago in order to secure funding for the newly formed breakaway Independent Party.
Sources say Barak actively pursued a plan of lowering his party’s membership so his splinter group could represent exactly one third of the Labor Party – the minimum number needed under Israeli party law to establish a new breakaway party and still receive state funding.
“It was a dirty trick, but fortunately for us he left and gave the Labor Party hope to continue,” Daniel Ben Simon, an Israeli Labor Party parliamentarian, told the Daily News.
Similarly, Doron said Barak utilized his own party membership in the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, to be able to break free and receive funding to operate the Independence Party.
“It’s pure survival, and Barak strategically played his cards so that he would lower the party membership and his five backing members would become one third of the party, thereby being able to secure legitimate party funding and break away,” he told Daily News.
Besides his week-long strategic planning, Barak has also been openly accused of negotiating directly with Netanyahu in an effort to destabilize the Labor Party in order to create the new Independence Party.
According to Bar, negotiations between Barak and the right wing all happened within a week, while Netanyahu’s involvement appeared very obvious.
“Bibi [Netanyahu] did not even deny his collaboration, which should be a very good indication,” Bar said.
According to other internal sources, the relationship between Barak and Netanyahu was carefully planned weeks in advance, which allowed for the careful and strategic manipulation of party political processes.
“The ties were planned ahead and the pure betrayal of the Labor Party should indicate who Barak truly is,” said an unnamed Knesset source.
Wilf strongly denied the allegations that the fracture in the party was calculated, adding that the prime minister was only informed of the split out of sensitivities to the stability of the government. All other accounts of the split are simply “fabricated conspiracies,” she said.
“All these conspiracy theories about negotiations and pre-planned strategies for funding have absolutely nothing to do with the truth,” she told the Daily News.
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