Former IDF general appointed by Gabbay mulls run for Labor chief

Tal Russo, who supported embattled chairman’s heavily criticized efforts to join Netanyahu’s coalition, relinquishes reserved no. 2 slot on slate

A former IDF general who was appointed by Labor chairman Avi Gabbay as the No. 2 on the embattled center-left party’s slate announced Monday that he would be giving up his reserved spot and would consider running for the party leadership.

In a text message to supporters, Tal Russo said he entered politics “with the hope of changing and influencing, not in order to stick to a political appointment.”

“As a result of the dispersal of the Knesset and the reelection, I hereby relinquish my position as number two in the party and will consider running for the position of party chairman,” said Russo.

Russo’s Labor leadership run would likely be an uphill battle, given his public support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s last-ditch offer for Labor to join his coalition.

Gabbay, who appointed the former head of the IDF’s Southern Command despite opposition from senior party officials, deliberated over Netanyahu’s proposal for several days before eventually turning it down late last Wednesday night after Channel 12 broke the story of his negotiations with the Likud leader.

Former Yesh Atid MK Haim Jelin, who was appointed to the 10th spot on the party’s list reserved for a nominee of the chairman’s choosing, also announced that he would be giving up on his spot in a Monday tweet. Jelin didn’t made it into the Knesset as Labor finished with just six seats in the April election, its worst-ever showing.

Labor Party leader Avi Gabbay (right) and party member Tal Russo during a press conference held in Kibbutz Nahal Oz during a visit to southern Israeli communities bordering the Gaza Strip, on March 7, 2019. (Flash90)

Gabbay and Russo were reportedly offered the positions of finance and defense minister respectively, in addition to two more portfolios for other Labor MKs and a promise from Netanyahu that legislation granting himself immunity from prosecution would be shelved.

The Labor chairman brought the offer before MKs Itzik Shmuli, Stav Shaffir, Shelly Yachimovich and Amir Peretz, who each voiced their opposition and went on to publicly blast Gabbay after news broke that he continued to consider the proposal. However, the national-religious Makor Rishon daily reported that Yachimovich had also considered the offer behind closed doors and met with Likud MK Yariv Levin about the possibility of being appointed justice minister. Both Yachimovich and the Likud party denied the report.

Defending his willingness to consider the offer, despite Labor’s strident statements of refusal to sit in any government with Netanyahu, Russo told Army Radio, “I would have considered an offer by Hamas as well. Everything was on the table.”

On Thursday, Gabbay sought to justify his talks with Netanyahu, saying that even though he had repeatedly vowed to not join a Netanyahu government during the election campaign, he seriously considered it after he was offered the means to help preserve Israeli democracy.

On Sunday, Gabbay announced that the party will hold a vote for chair of the party but not primaries for the rest of the ticket in the upcoming election.

“Ahead of the elections in September, I intend on Tuesday to propose to the party’s leadership that we hold elections for the head of the party at the earliest possible date and without additional primaries for the Knesset slate,” Gabbay said in a statement.