What has happened to the leaders of Israel’s Left parties?

Published: 22 October 2019

Last updated: 4 March 2024

MAZAL MUALEM: Contrary to their enthusiasm ahead of the September election, Ehud Barak and his colleagues in the leadership of the left-wing camp seem to have disappeared

THE LAST TIME CHAIRMAN of Labor-Gesher Amir Peretz was active on social media was Oct. 9. It was right after Yom Kippur, and he went online to express his horror at the despicable hate crime that took place at the synagogue in Halle, Germany.

His partner in the party’s leadership, Knesset member Orly Levy-Abekasis, last popped up online on the eve of Rosh Hashana when she posted a generic greeting in honour of the Jewish New Year.

The two of them have had almost no real presence in traditional media either since the Sept. 17 election. There is practically no mention of their Labor-Gesher party in the political discourse, except when it comes to Peretz’s stubborn refusal to join a government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The situation in the country’s other left-wing party, the Democratic Camp, isn’t much better. True, the party’s chairman, Nitzan Horowitz, is much more active on social media, traditional media and on the ground.

In contrast, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who was largely responsible for the creation of the Democratic Camp last summer, has been silent since the last election. No one has heard anything from him other than a few random tweets.

FULL STORY Has Israel’s political left given up? (Al-Monitor)

Photo: Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak arrives before delivering a statement in Tel Aviv, June 26 (Corinna Kern/Reuters)