Israeli political earthquakes: Sharon quits, Peretz resurrects Labor

If you've not discovered MidEast Web GateWay, it is an English language Israeli news site with blog. Objective but clearly sympathetic to the peace movement, it also goes deeper than most US papers into events in Israel and the Middle East.

Ariel Sharon today virtually destroyed the Likud party that he helped to create in 1977. He announced his resignation from the party and called for new elections. With this move, and the election of Amir Peretz as head of the the Israel Labor party, the Labor party, mourned only a few weeks ago as defunct, will probably become the leading political party in Israel once again, with the largest bloc of Knesset votes. If there are no further surprises in store, Amir Peretz would be the next Prime Minister of Israel, an inconceivable idea just two weeks ago. As usual, however, Sharon is planning surprises.

The first earthquake of the Israeli election season was the elevation of Amir Peretz to be head of the Labor party. Sharon's earthquake was precipitated by Peretz's earthquake. Peretz announced he would pull the Labor party out of the unity coalition as he had promised. This forced new elections, because the government no longer had a majority. However, Sharon's earthquake was the result of cracks in the Likud that began with the disengagement plan.

Politically, Sharon's move appears to make no sense. As head of the Likud, polls gave him 37 to 38 mandates in the next Knesset, versus perhaps 28 mandates for Labor headed by Peretz. The election of Peretz sent the Likud into a panic. Likud leaders, including the formerly rebellious faction, had just met and sworn unity and undying fealty to Sharon. However, Sharon understood that any new government he would could form would be a rerun of the present impossible situation, with a new twist. The traditional right wing would continue to militate against rational policies in dealing with the Palestinians. Now however, there would be little chance of forming a coalition with Labor under Peretz.

As an aside, the article also contained this observation: "Peretz's election also represents a reaction to the "feed the rich and rob the poor" economics that was practiced by the Likud, with the tacit approval of Shimon Peres and other Labor ministers. Peretz's complaints are not all demagoguery. Statistics show that the top 10% of Israelis increased their income by 3%, while the bottom 10% lost 1% of their income."

Clearly, when it comes to robbing the poor to feed the rich, Likud is a bunch amatuers compared to our own GOP.