Focusing on the Arabs

Showing respect for the Arab sector, and plenty of it. This is what Labor party leadership candidates are expected to lavish on members of the Arab community as well as kibbutz members in the days still left before the primaries. May 28th is approaching, and slowly the options have been narrowed down and the needs of each candidate have been focused.

We are no longer witnessing endless tours across the country. From now on, the name of the game is focus. The objective is to woo the organized voters' groups. Those who go to vote out of a powerful internal urge – sometimes they even vote twice.

There is no place like the Arab community for getting organized votes, and there is no place like the kibbutzim for boosting the support for the Labor party's ideological-Ashkenazi backbone. Amir Peretz, Ehud Barak (through Binyamin Ben-Eliezer,) Ophir Pines, and even Danny Yatom can boast reserves of different sizes in the Arab sector. Barak and Ami Ayalon are also strong in the kibbutzim.

Peretz, meanwhile, boasts control of (at least) 5,000 Arab voters and Pines claims that he will surprise. Ayalon has less troopers among Labor's Arabs, but he is powerful in the kibbutzim and in the large cities. Peretz is weak in the kibbutzim, and Barak has to contend with the past animosity of many voters.

Therefore, while most Israelis celebrate Shavuot with cheese, Ben-Eliezer will again travel through Arab communities. "The Arabs and the kibbutzim are the goal," Barak's people say. "This is what needs to be done in the days still left. Work, work, work. Travel around the kibbutzim and Arab communities. We can win there, as early as the first round. We need to do it in one round, there's no other choice."

Confuse the enemy

Amir Peretz doesn't plan to rest either. In recent days, while missiles were landing on Sderot, he still found the time to hold political conventions. "We have the primaries coming up," Peretz' people say. "We're in the midst of a campaign."

However, in face of the escalation in the security situation, Peretz announced that he canceled most of the political events planned for the next two weeks and will be dedicating most of his time to security issues.

Ophir Pines distributed his efforts in the past two weeks in different avenues. He was torn between the protest tent he set up outside the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem, the struggle ahead of the Labor's central committee's meeting in Tel Aviv, and the primaries. He also traveled extensively to Arab communities and believes he will enjoy great support there. Pines claims that those who think the Arabs are in Barak's or Peretz's pocket are going to eat their hat.

Danny Yatom's situation is unclear. On the face of it, several thousand people continue to claim in the polls that they will be voting for him. On the other hand, Amir Peretz's associates swear that they instructed their people to say they will be voting for Yatom. A sort of amusing trick meant to confuse the enemy, Peretz's close associates say as they wink.