Peretz: If Barak wants defense ministry he should leave Labor

"Any attempt to legitimize the Labor Party's inclusion in the coalition will be met with much objection," Knesset Member Amir Peretz said Monday morning following Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with Labor Chairman Ehud Barak on Sunday evening.

In an interview to Ynet, Peretz said that if Barak wants to serves as defense minister – he should resign from his role as Labor chairman immediately. Peretz warned that if Barak continued to negotiation with Netanyahu, "it could lead to a deep rift within the party, and possibly even to segmentation."

Peretz, who is considered a future candidate for head of the Labor party, said that "if Barak wants to negotiate for the position of defense minister on his own, he should not sit as the head of the party. The bureau and the faction have decided to go to opposition.

"Barak's conduct is misleading the party members. I urge him to make a decision – either stop deluding everyone or announce that he is a professional defense minister. And if he does so, he must leave the party and let us rebuild ourselves without him."

Peretz said Labor could recuperate if Barak decides to follow Moshe Dayan's past lead and join the government as a professional defense minister.

"I didn't view his arrival as salvation, so it's no deathblow when he leaves," said Peretz. "Barak's conduct is completely incomprehensible. He sends his aides to speak in favor of opposition, and now he is ridiculing them.

"If he wants to be defense minister – he should announce it. Barak is not holding talks with Netanyahu on a personal level. He is there as the chairman of a party. It must be clear: Any attempts to use the security situation and the economic situation as oil for the coalitional machine are attempts that have no base and no purpose."

Peretz stressed that Labor must remain in the opposition in order to try and reconstruct itself. "It is clear to all that in a time of a security threat to Israel, the whole Knesset, and certainly Labor, will stand by any government in the face of any security threat.

"But it is clear that when the Knesset has an opposition that is too small – this will cause the government to make economic decisions that will mainly harm the citizens, the common workers, the pensioners.

"Without a strong opposition, every bad decision will pass easily. A large opposition could sharpen the difference between us and a right-wing government."

Barak's dilemma

After his meeting with Netanyahu on Sunday, Barak's associates said he was in a serious dilemma in light of the security-related challenges ahead. The two officials decided to meet again. In the previous meeting between the two, Barak had said that the voters sent his party to the opposition.

A source close to Barak said Monday morning, "His dilemma is very serious. It's not as simple as it seems. Right now, he is in a very sensitive position. There is a high probability that Labor is on its way to the opposition, but the government hasn't been formed yet, and there's no telling how it will all end up."

Regarding the possibility that Barak resign, a sources close to him said, "For the time being, this option has not even been up for discussion."

The Labor faction will convene Monday afternoon to discuss the coalitional talks, and a number of Labor MKs are expected to reiterate calls to go to the opposition.

However, Labor members have expressed concerns that some "spineless" coalition-objecting MKs may be swayed and change their mind under pressure from Barak.

Internal tensions between Peretz and Barak supporters erupted a few days ago when mutual accusations were thrown at the two at a Labor party meeting.

After the meeting, Minister Shalom Simhon said he was "not sure that the labor party can be rehabilitated".

The incident began when Barak aide Pini Kabalo claimed that Peretz did not do his part in setting his activists in motion ahead of elections, and this was one of the reasons the party received such grim results.

Peretz's aides in turn put the blame on the Histadrut labor federation. Peretz said, "My camp is the most loyal to the party, and has worked to help. The party is no one's private property. I demand elections for all roles in the party."