The Decline and Fall of the Israeli Left

Today Labor Knesset member Daniel Ben-Simon announced his planned departure from the Labor party and the ruling government coalition. MK Ben-Simon intends to create a one-man faction in the opposition, citing the lack of diplomatic progress with the Palestinian Authority and “differences with the Likud government” as reasons for his departure. Only a few days ago Ben-Simon made headlines when he accused Sefardic Jewry of being the source of racism and religious radicalism Israel, referring to Sefardic Knesset member Michael Ben-Ari of the National Union party as a would-be Nazi (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4009123,00.html).

This is just the latest step in the degeneration of the Labor party, a party which once thrived as a bizarre mixture of socialist economic policies with Jewish nationalism and a deep attachment to the Land of Israel. Today Labor has become a carbon-copy of the fanatical anti-nationalist, anti-religious Meretz party, which as long served as the flag-bearer of the extreme left. While Labor rebels like Ben-Simon claim that they represent “the public”, who is frustrated with the allegedly right-wing government, Labor’s popularity has plummeted. The party which once held an absolute majority in the Knesset and for decades was the nation’s unquestioned ruling party, has in recent years plummeted to a mere 13 seats. And recent polls predict that the party will lose more in the next election, falling to 6 or 7 seats. Kadima has taken the mantle of Israel’s leftwing; Labor has nothing left but to struggle for scraps of the far-left with Meretz, another party which has fallen to an all-time low of just 3 seats (compared to 12 in its heyday). Ben-Simon’s departure from the party is just another indication of the party’s coming demise. Without the fierce dedication to Jewish nationalism that marked the Ben-Gurion era, the party has nothing to offer the vast majority of Israelis. Today the party survives off of the votes of Kibbutz members, Arabs, and the national labor union mafia.

In one sense the demise of Labor is sad; it is a shame that the party which in its infancy promoted “Jewish Labor” now finds that very slogan to be “racist”, as if Judaism is a race. It is likely that the Labor of today would have accused the Labor of yesteryear of racism when the latter passed the Law of Return, a law that applies only to Jews.

On the other hand its hard to pity a group of people so detached from their own roots that they call others Nazis for supporting policies once endorsed by their own movement. The time has come to put this puppy to sleep, for its own sake and for Israel’s.