The Labor Party will sell dozens of properties it owns and fire most of its employees, in an attempt to deal with its huge NIS 122 million debt.
On Monday, the Labor MKs were informed that if it does not sell all of its assets - which include some 80 buildings and 400 acres of land, close its branches and dismiss employees, the party would face complete financial collapse.
The party has set up a steering committee to formulate a recovery plan, which will be brought for the Labor secretariat's approval after the holidays.
"If we don’t take these steps, the party would face liquidation," said party treasurer Moshe Amit.
Amit explained that the party would have to fire most of its employees, a move that would cost it an extra NIS 11-12 million and increase the debt to NIS 134 million.
MKs Amir Peretz and Shelly Yacimovitch stated they opposed dismissing employees. "A party is not a capitalist business; we're not a business firm but an ideological body. We should set an example in this issue," Yacimovitch said.
Labor Secretary-General Eitan Cabel told the faction members that dealing with the party's dire financial situation has taken a personal toll on him. "Everything is ruined… we've reached a situation where we can't pay the employees ahead of the holidays… I don't sleep at night, I wake up from nightmares," he related.