Four papers comment on the decision of Ehud Barak and four of his MK associates to quit the Labor Party and form their own faction:
The Jerusalem Post writes: „Ehud Barak’s announcement Monday that he and four additional Labor MKs were breaking off from their party to form the “Independence” fand remain in the coalition has left a once illustrious political party – indeed, the governing party for 29 of modern Israel’s first 30 years – in shambles.” And concludes: „Barak’s defection is a hammer blow, but it is also emblematic of a deeper ideological crisis on the Left, and not just in Israel.”
Haaretz writes: „The Labor Party’s disintegration was an unavoidable consequence of the standstill in the peace process, which created a gap between the party’s declared positions and the policies of the government it was partner to. By resigning with four stalwarts from the Knesset’s Labor faction, Barak has preempted his rivals, who were striving to remove him from the cabinet or the party. Taking the initiative gives him a momentary tactical advantage. But it does not change the result – Israel is ruled today by an extreme rightist government that objects to any compromise in the peace process, is preoccupied with diplomatic holding operations against ‘the world’ and passes its days oppressing the Arab community and persecuting human rights organizations. But the split in Labor, including the departure of eight Labor MKs from the coalition, holds a big opportunity for the left wing, which until yesterday was hardly represented in the Knesset. A bloc will now form around three banners – social justice, advancing peace and saving democracy.”
Yediot Aharonot reminds its readers that, „Shimon Peres, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Amram Mitzna and Amir Peretz did not succeed in resuscitating the dying body of the Labor Party even when Ehud Barak was out of the picture.”
Ma’ariv contends that „Everybody got what they deserved. Barak became a leader without a party and without a constituency (not counting four opportunists). Yitzhak Herzog, Avishay Braverman and Binyamin Ben-Eliezer had to resign in shock. And Bibi? He got Barak; the man who succeeded in eliminating the Labor Party, as if it never existed. The brand name which established the state, paved its paths and built its values, melted under his bewitched touch and turned into an island of ruins.”
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Yisrael Hayom discusses the Stuxnet virus, which reportedly caused havoc with Iran’s nuclear program: „Despite official ambiguity on the matter, it’s possible to say that it is a focal point of Israeli pride, especially after being told this week that the frightening worm was tested at the Dimona reactor before being sent to Iran.”
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