Mitzna resigns
May 4th, 2003
Amram Mitzna has resigned as the leader of the Labour party. This was not exactly unexpected, but given the high hopes that people had for him just a few months ago, it’s a real indication of just how far the once-dominant Israeli party has fallen:
Mitzna had been accused of attempting to lead the Labor party too far to the left. He has stated that if he were prime minister he would dismantle settlements unilaterally and negotiate with Palestinians despite ongoing terror attacks. He said that he was convinced Labor’s
land-for-peace agenda would ultimately prevail, that Israel should end Jewish settlement in the West Bank and Gaza, and “must separate from the Palestinians and from so many illusions.”
“Right from the start Mitzna didn’t have a chance of survival in the Labor party,” Yediot Ahronot quoted former Meretz leader Yossi Sarid.
Labour was detached from the reality of the Israeli people. Mitzna, by all accounts, had good intentions, but he simply couldn’t convince a terrorism-weary population that his vision was the way to go.
It will remain to be seen what happens now to the party. Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Mitzna’s chief rival in the last leadership contest, is a good bet for a primary candidate.
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