Binyamin Ben-Eliezer
Photo: AFP
Ben-Eliezer: We ruined Labor Party
Industry, Trade and Labor minister laments Labor Party's sorry state after faction meeting takes particularly snippy turn
The internal rivalries within the Labor Party reached new highs, or rather lows, Monday, as the bickering between faction members, was reminiscent of the days prior to the party's split in the 1960s.
Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer ended up rebuking his fellow party members, saying that they have "ruined the Labor Party. It's like we are 13 different parties, not one."
Strident tones first sounded as the meeting was drawing to a close, when Agriculture Minister and Faction Chairman Shalom Simhon suggested rescheduling a political debate that has already been postponed several times.
Knesset Member Shelly Yacimovich urged Simhon and party Chairman Ehud Barak to refrain from "putting on a show, if the purpose of the (political) debate isn’t clear," to which Barak replied: "It's not always black or white… It not a questing of all or nothing, of jumping off the roof or not."
"Unless you live on the 31st floor," was Yacimovich's sardonic reply, in reference to Barak's residence in one of Tel Aviv's prestigious high-rises. Barak did not respond further, seemingly oblivious to the mocking tone.
It was at this point that Ben-Eliezer, who was silent for most of the meeting, found it hard to hold back: "We have single-handedly ruined the Labor party," he admonished those present. "Kadima's disagreements are 10 times more difficult, believe me, yet they manage to keep things 'in house.' Sometimes I envy them. Here people just do what they want.
If this is the way you plan on holding faction meetings, if they keep being held for nothing, I see no reason to attend," he said.
"Around here, every fool thinks himself king," Ben-Eliezer added. "A faction should work together. Faction members should strive to find the unifying factor, not the dividing one. We should be keeping our differences in house, not burn the house down."
