Ariel Sharon promised to bring security to his troubled country when he was elected Israel's Prime Minister in February, 2000. The ongoing violence between Palestinians and Israelis underscores how badly he has failed. Now that the Labor Party has quit Sharon's Likud-led coalition and triggered new elections, Israeli voters will soon face a critical choice: to reelect a tough government led by Likud or to give Labor another chance to lead--and try to negotiate peace.
The election could well turn on how voters respond to a newcomer in Israeli national politics, Amram Mitzna. A 57-year-old former general, Mitzna is mayor of Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, and the front-runner to become Labor Party leader in a Nov. 19 primary. His goal: to revitalize a party weakened by its participation in Sharon's coalition and by its failure at the polls 20 months ago.
A harsh critic of Sharon, Mitzna is pushing a bold approach to dealing with the Palestinian conflict. He also wants to boost spending on job creation, education, and infrastructure projects to combat Israel's worst-ever economic crisis. Mitzna is favored to win the Labor leadership over Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, the current leader who resigned as Defense Minister on Oct. 30, and Haim Ramon, a Knesset member. The Labor leader will then face either Sharon or former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the January general election. Netanyahu will challenge Sharon for the leadership of Likud in a late November primary.
Whether he faces Sharon or Netanyahu, Mitzna is gearing up for a fierce fight. He hopes to capitalize on the fact that he's new at the national level--and thus not tainted by Labor's recent mistakes. And he'll stress his successful eight-year record in Haifa. "We've had a balanced budget, the best record in the country on education, and good relations between Jews and Arabs even during the intifada," he recently told BusinessWeek. What's likely to create the biggest stir are Mitzna's ideas for dealing with the Palestinians. He calls for an immediate return to the negotiating table and, unlike Sharon, is prepared to talk with Yassir Arafat.
Mitzna supports the creation of a Palestinian state as soon as possible. But if the Palestinians don't want to negotiate, he believes Israel should unilaterally decide what its border with the future Palestinian state should be. He favors handing most of the West Bank to the Palestinians, along the lines of understandings reached in 2000 between then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak and then-President Bill Clinton. Dozens of Jewish settlements would have to be dismantled, a move sure to be opposed by Israel's right.
With such a platform, Mitzna will be facing an uphill battle. Recent polls predict that Likud will increase its representation in the Knesset, while Labor stands to lose seats. To enhance Labor's chances, the Haifa mayor aims to appeal to ex-Soviet immigrant voters, who make up 17% of the population. Despite their right-wing leanings, immigrants helped bring Labor's Yitzhak Rabin and Barak to power in the 1990s. "The dire economic situation will be the top priority among immigrant voters, and this works in Mitzna's favor," says Roman Bronfman, a Russian-born Knesset member.
But Mitzna's biggest problem may be time. If he wins the Labor leadership, he'll have less than three months to get his message out to voters. That simply may not be enough to combat formidable opponents such as Sharon or Netanyahu. Still, if Mitzna can make Labor a more viable political force again, even in the opposition, that can only be healthy for Israel's democracy--and perhaps eventually the cause of peace.
By Neal Sandler in Jerusalem
Edited by Rose Brady
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