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'For the first time since being elected Labor chairman, Herzog made a decision'
Photo: AFP

Isaac Herzog: From 'nerd' to fighter

Analysis: Labor-Hatnua union proves that Herzog is a seasoned politician with a killer instinct and that Tzipi Livni hasn't given up her dream of becoming prime minister. But will it be enough for them to win the elections?

Knesset Member Eitan Cabel of the Labor Party is an optimist by nature. "First of all, there is a buzz," he said after Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni's press conference, which was met with applause from enthusiastic staff.

 

 

"Up to a week ago, we were losing Knesset seats. MKs on our list were afraid they would not return to the Knesset. Now, according to the polls, we have more than 20 Knesset seats and everyone is in. It's an important thing. There is a different atmosphere. People are optimistic. They believe it can be done. There is a buzz."

 

The different atmosphere Cabel is talking about is exactly what the Labor Party needed. For years, it has been marking time in the low two-digit area. No one believed it could snap out of it. Everyone thought it was final, terminal, that the party's historical role was over.

 

And suddenly a great miracle happened, even before Hanukkah. The latest election polls put the smile back on the faces and the talks about a union with Livni boost Herzog's eligibility.

 

"Let's take things slowly," Herzog said Tuesday night after the flattering Channel 10 poll. On Wednesday night, after his press conference with Livni, he was already bolder. He straightened his back and raised his head. He ran from one person to another, hugging whoever he saw. He began believing in the possibility of doing the unbelievable.

 

The road is still long, but the union with Livni is a political deal which restores the faith among the voters of these two battered parties that it might be possible to rise up.

 

The union proved what many people believed Herzog was incapable of doing: For the first time since being elected Labor chairman, Herzog made a decision. Even his greatest supporters in the party were concerned that he was hesitant, incapable of making a decision. On Wednesday night he proved that he could do it, that he could cut to the chase and make quite a difficult decision which not all his faction members or Labor Party Committee representatives would be keen on.

 

Livni missed out on the chance of a lifetime to become prime minister because she stayed away from deals. Herzog was not afraid to get his hands dirty and emerge with an achievement (Photo: EPA)   (Photo: EPA)
Livni missed out on the chance of a lifetime to become prime minister because she stayed away from deals. Herzog was not afraid to get his hands dirty and emerge with an achievement (Photo: EPA)

 

Herzog also proved that he is a seasoned politician. Yair Lapid wanted Livni as much as Herzog did. He promised her wonderful things, and maybe even more Knesset seats. He didn't have polls to prove it, but Lapid's charm is no secret.

 

And yet, Herzog defeated him in this negotiation, and the fact that he "struck a deal" gives him credit. A person who wants to be prime minister must know how to strike deals. Livni, in case anyone's forgotten, missed out on the chance of a lifetime to become prime minister because she stayed away from deals. Herzog was not afraid to get his hands dirty and emerge with an achievement.

 

The decision on a rotation system for the role of prime minister mainly indicates that Livni has not given up her dream to become prime minister. It also proves that Herzog agreed to go all the way with his desire to unite with Livni's party. He kept his ego in check, forgot that Livni's party doesn’t even pass the electoral threshold in the polls, held his tongue and said yes.

 

If he does create a government, no one will remember the price he paid. If the election results prove that the union wasn't a smart move, he will anyway be publicly slaughtered.

 

For now, Herzog has proved that he is a fighter, that he is willing to do anything to win, that he has a killer instinct. And after years of being called weak and a "nerd" (and MK Ze'ev Elkin of the Likud went to the trouble of reminding him of that Wednesday night), the last thing Herzog needs three months before the elections is for people to say that he doesn’t want to win.

 

Now all that is left for him to do is to actually win. Because despite the union, and despite the press conference, Yair Lapid, Moshe Kahlon and Avigdor Lieberman are not sitting idle. They have some surprises up their sleeves too.

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.11.14, 17:23
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