Recent changes in the political sphere, such as former Labor leader Amir Peretz
moving to The Tzipi Livni Party, have led the public to lose faith in politics,
Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich said Saturday.
“As someone who believes in
politics as a tool to realize ideology, I saw record low points, in which
everyone goes party-shopping, selling their wares, and the connection between
the political machine and ideology is forgotten,” Yacimovich said at a cultural
event in Jerusalem. “I am convinced that we all want to forget these unpleasant
events as soon as possible, and move to a deeper discussion.”
Yacimovich
called for Center- Left parties to forget the events of the last week and focus
on toppling Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instead of hurting each
other.
“I decided that I’m leaving the brawling behind,” she said. “I
have no reason to harm other parties in my bloc. My only rival is Binyamin
Netanyahu, as someone who presents an extreme capitalist agenda and is tearing
apart Israeli society.”
Whoever wants to take down Netanyahu, Yacimovich
concluded, should vote for Labor.
Peretz resigned from the Knesset on
Thursday, after announcing his move to Livni’s party. Former Labor MK Yoram
Marciano, who is a close ally of Peretz, is expected to take his place on
Sunday.
However, Marciano refused to discuss his impending swearing-in on
Saturday night, saying, “We’ll see what happens by Sunday at noon.”
As
for Peretz’s departure from Labor, Marciano said, “I wish him Happy Hanukka and
good luck,” and refused to comment further.
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