Cabel: Systematic destruction
Photo: Dudi Vaaknin
MK Cabel: Labor ministers ruined party
Cabel writes disgruntled letter slamming party members for taking 'evil path' by joining government
Knesset Member Eitan Cabel (Labor) sent a letter to the Labor ministers rebuking them for being part of the government and for damaging the party.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is celebrating its one year anniversary, but Cabel wrote in his letter that it "feels like much longer".
"I am in pain, ministers and deputies. You have ruined the party for me. Through your cooperation with the Right, you are also giving a hand to the systematic destruction of all things good in the country," wrote Cabel. "Leave your evil path and come home."
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The letter is symptomatic of a recent wave of discontent within Labor. Last month Ophir Pines-Paz announced he would be resigning from politics, criticizing Chairman Ehud Barak in the speech. Yuli Tamir has also handed in her resignation, for the benefit of serving as president of Shenkar College.
The two were part of a group of Barak's critics within the party, to which Cabel also belongs. "You have succeeded in making two of the Labor's best children – Ophir Pines-Paz and Yuli Tamir – resign because they could no longer take the putrid scent of your betrayal of party ethics," he wrote.
"You have joined the most arrogant government in history at the expense of the tax payers; the land reform law that transferred national lands to tycoons was approved with your vote; the Drought tax was imposed on the citizens of Israel without the money going towards the water system but instead only for squandering by the government you support; your vote in favor of the biannual budget deepens gaps in society; soon the construction freeze in the West Bank will be over and the government to which you belong means to immediately approve hundreds of housing units there, and you have supported turning settlements into major development areas."
Cabel went on to criticize Labor's relations with the foreign minister. "Day after day you see Yvette Lieberman, your government companion, trample over Israel's good name and you do nothing; every day the rule of law and that of the Supreme Court is trampled and you do not have the power to fight against it; every week you witness injustices totally antithetical to the stance of the Labor Party but you are silent," he wrote.
The MK also alluded to recent polls showing that the Labor Party was gathering rising support. "I hope at least you find this poll positive," he wrote. "I am sure it displays how important you are, and how appreciated you are by the people of Israel. Prove that you have a sliver of decency, fidelity, and honor – find one issue and fight for it, with a time schedule and periodic assessments, and if you do not succeed resign from the government immediately."
The Labor Party stated in response that its "achievements" in the government were well-known, "beginning with defense, through security and legal issues, and to socio-economics".
"Those who do not possess the spiritual prowess to assist the government in rising to ruling status once again are asked not to interrupt and not to conduct public media battles each morning," the statement said.
