| |
Beilin not done yet
Yossi Beilin’s tenure as Meretz leader is ending, yet he will continue to be highly influential
Attila Somfalvi
After almost four years as the chairman of Meretz, Yossi Beilin has nothing to be proud of politically speaking. The man who was the great hope of the Israeli Left when he was elected to head the party has in recent years turned into an electoral liability for Meretz.
Despite his many and uncontested diplomatic skills, Beilin did not show overly impressive political skills. During his tenure, Meretz has turned into a small and divided party that found it difficult to regain the voters who backed it in the early 1990s. In fact, Beilin is ending his term isolated and without any real close associates or supporters that would do anything for him. There is good reason why in recent weeks it was difficult to find “close associates” that would be able to shed light on or analyze the chairman’s future moves. Nobody in Meretz was willing to express certainty on Beilin’s future moves and whether he will quit or run for the party’s leadership again.
Beilin is convinced that he in fact saved Meretz. It is hard to say whether he is right or wrong, as in the last general elections the political establishment was facing an almost chaotic state: Sharon split the Likud and established Kadima, the Labor party elected Peretz to lead it, Shinui disappeared, and the public gave the Pensioners – a anonymous yet amusing party – a total of seven Knesset seats.
Beilin’s decision on Sunday to quit the party leadership race is indeed gentlemanly, yet it was undertaken in the absence of any other choice. Beilin knew he had no chance to win again after Haim Oron decided to join the race. Therefore, he quit, and also clearly announced that he is shifting his support to Oron. Beyond this, Beilin is not considered to be a great admirer of Meretz leadership hopefuls Zahava Gal-On and Ran Cohen, and he knows that none of them have a chance to win this race.
Yet despite this, much can be said about Beilin, the political figure. Ever since he entered political life he positioned himself as a central figure in the political and public discourse. He was involved in countless peace initiatives with the Palestinians, came up with the Geneva Initiative, and by doing so had possibly decisive influence on Ariel Sharon’s decision to end the freeze and lead some kind of a move vis-à-vis the Palestinians, that is, disengagement. In all matters pertaining to the diplomatic arena, Yossi Beilin is one of the most important and influential people in the past 20 years when it comes to Israel’s public discourse.
And this leads us to the future. For the time being, Beilin claims that he intends to run for the next Knesset elections, unless something dramatic happens. In this case, and in face of the many bitter moments he experienced in political life, we can doubt his frankness. These days, members of the political establishment are estimating that Beilin is done and will no longer run for Knesset.
Yet there is no reason for concern. In the near future, Beilin intends to dive back into diplomatic affairs, convene an international conference of generations of peacemakers, and push for talks with the Palestinians and Syrians. Will he succeed? One can admire his efforts or doubt his chances. Yet what is certain is that in the coming years Beilin will continue to be one of the most well-spoken, intelligent, and influential public figures within Israel’s public discourse. He will no longer be the Meretz chairman, but he will forever remain an address for innovative initiatives and courageous ideas.
|
RSS
