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May 9, 2003/Iyar 7 5763, Vol. 55, No. 37
Mitzna leaves Labor with challenge, opportunity
LESLIE SUSSER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - Amram Mitzna's decision to abdicate the leadership of the Labor Party after just months on the job seems to signal the lowest ebb for a party that dominated Israeli life for decades.
But it might just herald a dramatic realignment of Israel's political map.
After months of rebellion from party officials who never grew accustomed to his leadership style, Mitzna threw the Israeli political establishment into turmoil by announcing his resignation May 4.
The announcement opened what could be yet another a bitter battle for the leadership of Labor, which has been rudderless since party leader Ehud Barak retired after losing the premiership to Ariel Sharon in February 2001.
It also raised the possibility that centrist Labor politicians, who chafed at Mitzna's decision not to join a national unity government after Sharon was reelected by a landslide in January, might take the party back into Sharon's embrace.
If that happens, the more dovish wings of the party could split, leaving Labor for an alliance that former Labor legislator Yossi Beilin and Yossi Sarid, head of the left-wing Meretz Party, have been talking for months about building. Beilin even says Mitzna could lead the alliance.
Indeed, Beilin points out, if just six other Labor members of Knesset joined Mitzna, the leftist group would have 13 Knesset members to Labor's 12, and would constitute the largest opposition faction in Parliament.
Such a move could lead to a major realignment of political forces in Israel - and it is quite conceivable if the new Labor leadership decides to join Sharon's government.
First, though, Labor will have some hard choices to make about its leadership and direction.
Mitzna was hailed as a potential savior when, at age 57, he burst onto the national political stage eight months ago, after serving as mayor of Haifa for a decade.
Mitzna promised to discard Sharon's policies, immediately sit down with any Palestinian leaders and, if all else failed, unilaterally withdraw Israeli troops and settlers from the West Bank and Gaza Strip within a year.
Many Israelis hoped that Mitzna, soft-spoken and highly principled, would give Labor a new sense of purpose and help the country address its most pressing problems.
But his resignation this week dashed those hopes, and left the party worse off than at any time in its long and checkered history.
In his resignation speech, he claimed leading figures in the party had never accepted his leadership, hadn't given him a moment's grace and had done all they could to undermine him.
Mitzna said he had been confronted by a group of manipulative Machiavellians who put personal ambition above the general good.
Although he didn't mention names, Mitzna's barbs were aimed, first and foremost, at the man he replaced as party leader, former Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer.
At his news conference May 4, Mitzna said he was prepared to fight for his dovish views, but not to fight daily to prove his legitimacy as party leader.
The press was deeply divided over Mitzna's decision to resign. Some argued that he was too good for his political colleagues; others that he had feet of clay.
"True, (Mitzna) has little political savvy. And you would need more than the fingers of two hands to count his mistakes. But even if all that is true, only a pathetic party like Labor could reject a man of such quality," Yediot Achronot's Sima Kadmon wrote.
But Doron Rosenblum of Ha'aretz argued that, "like others on the Israeli left," Mitzna was too finicky and fragile.
It's difficult to gauge how much Mitzna's departure will cost Labor in terms of public support. A weekend public opinion poll, however, gives some indication: 60 percent of the those polled thought Mitzna most suited to lead Labor, followed by Ben-Eliezer with a mere 10 percent.
To steady the ship, most Labor leaders are now talking about appointing a temporary party leader, rather than going straight into another strength-sapping leadership race. The lone candidate for interim leader is veteran Shimon Peres, whose task would be to smooth the way for a leadership race in about a year's time.
A lot will depend on when the race takes place, and whether Peres is indeed installed first as temporary leader. The key question is whether Sharon will be able to attract the new, temporary leadership to join his coalition.
Mitzna, too, had said recently that he would consider joining Sharon's government if it accepted the U.S.-backed "road map'' peace plan.
However, after being rebuffed by Mitzna for months, Sharon was in no hurry to embrace him when Mitzna's hold on Labor clearly was becoming precarious.
Leslie Susser is the diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Report.
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