Yacimovich warns: Herzog will crawl into the government

Sitting Labor head kicks off her leadership campaign saying election will decide whether Labor "has a spine."

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich 370 (photo credit: Artiom Degel)
Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich 370
(photo credit: Artiom Degel)
The Labor Party’s quiet leadership race heated up Sunday night when incumbent Shelly Yacimovich and her allies warned that her opponent, MK Isaac Herzog, would take the party into the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Yacimovich kicked off her campaign with a well-attended event in Tel Aviv that featured singer Koby Oz, stand-up comedian Hadar Levy and attacks on Herzog.
“This election will decide whether we have a spine or crawl into every government,” she said. “It will decide whether we will build the country or be a partner in its privatization. Will we come to the government only if there will be a diplomatic breakthrough or will we once again come save Netanyahu?” Yacimovich’s ally MK Miki Rosenthal went further at the event, warning that he did not want to “wake up and find out we are embracing with [Shas leader Arye] Deri and [Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor] Liberman.”
Herzog responded that Yacimovich should have talked about how to bring Labor back to power instead of attacking him with lies about him wanting to join the government.
He said his polls show that the race is close and that only he can bring back Labor’s former supporters who voted for Yesh Atid in the last election.
“This election will decide whether we will be a niche party or a force that can take over the country,” Herzog said.