Posted on 01/17/2011 5:10:38 AM PST by markomalley
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak broke away on Monday from his Labor Party, splitting the once-dominant center-left movement in a step that could give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political boost.
Barak, who remains defense chief, had been facing challenges to his party leadership and pressure within Labor, a junior partner in the governing coalition, to persuade Netanyahu to move more quickly toward a peace deal with the Palestinians.
The move appeared likely to remove some of that pressure and solidify the right-wing core of Netanyahu's government.
It also further marginalizes the party which dominated Israel for most of its history but saw its support erode in the past decade with the failure of the peace process pioneered in the 1990s under Labor leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Labor’s fall has been spectacular... its now dominated by Far Left post-Zionists who have no real appeal to the Israeli mainstream. I expect some in the rump Labor Party to join Kadima and others to unite with Meretz. Ehud Barak should be congratulated for helping to bury Israeli socialism. He was the undertaker and few in Israel are mourning Labor’s demise.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.