Would Labor be absolutely, positively sure that leaving the government was a good idea if it wasn’t, well, a good idea for them?
The Labor Party is likely to quit the government by November now that the disengagement plan has been implemented, Labor Party Secretary General MK Eitan Cabel said Friday morning.
“I presume – and also hope and believe – that by November the picture can be different [and] the Labor Party will not be part of the unity government,” Cabel told Israel Radio.
In the past Labor has miscalculated – Ben Eliezer bringing down the first Sharon unity government turned out to be an electoral disaster. But even on the day when Likud and Labor worked feverishly to save the government, just about everyone in Labor knew it was going to be an electoral disaster – that’s why most of them worked so hard to avoid it. This time there’s almost wall to wall unanimity that bringing down the Sharon government will help Labor.
The Israeli Right, for its part, is responding to this blatant power maneuver by enthusiastically helping. No seriously, with the impressive 17.3 percent of the public vote that Netanyahu can bring, this is definitely a good idea for the Likud. And we’re quite sure that whatever novice Labor installs as Prime Minister will be able to subtly maneuver through the complicated diplomatic situation following disengagement.
[Cross-posted to IsraPundit]
