Labor's No.2 Russo denies he is under pressure to quit party

Former IDF general issues statement after reports he could make way for Merav Michaeli to enter Knesset; says he and party need time for ‘soul-searching’

Tal Russo, number two on the Labor slate, on Friday denied he was under pressure to step down from the party after its worst ever election result.

“It is important for me to now say unequivocally: I am with the Labor Party. Nobody is pressuring me to step down,” tweeted the former IDF general. “The sad results of the elections for the party, and for me personally, require time for personal and party soul-searching,” he added.

“I have received sweeping support from all members of the Labor Party and its supporters,” said Russo.

Hebrew-language media reports earlier in the week suggested Russo was under pressure to quit the party to allow veteran MK Merav Michaeli, seventh on the party’s slate, to enter the Knesset.

Zionist Union parliament member Merav Michaeli attending a faction meeting in the Knesset, December 5, 2016. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

According to Channel 13 news, some within the party believe Russo should step down as he “did not deliver the goods” required of him when placed so highly on the party’s slate.

The party, which led Israel in its first 30 years, fell to just six seats Tuesday with 4.44 percent of the votes, Labor’s worst showing in its 71-year history. In the 2015 elections, Labor, as part of the Zionist Union party, won 24 seats.

Embattled party leader Avi Gabbay said Thursday he will “confer” with party members about “moving up the date of leadership primaries,” amid intense pressure for him to resign after leading the party to its worst ever election result.

“I recognize and know the weight of responsibility placed on the shoulders of the Labor Party leader,” Gabbay said in a statement.

“In the coming days I will discuss with Labor MKs moving up the date of primaries for party chairmanship and other options on the table.”

Gabbay, who served as a minister for Kulanu in 2015-2016 and then quit the party to join Labor, has never been a member of the Knesset, and was elected to the legislature for the first time in Tuesday’s vote, where Labor won only six seats.

On Thursday he made clear that he did not intend to quit the party altogether but to serve as an MK.

“I will continue to work for the Labor movement and the Israeli public and on April 30th will be sworn in as a member of the Israeli Knesset and serve the public from the opposition,” he said.

Hebrew media speculated that Gabbay could step down and appoint an interim leader as early as the beginning of next week. The Ynet news site claimed former party chairman Amir Peretz was being considered to lead the party until primaries can be held.

Labor Party chairman Avi Gabbay (podium) flanked by Tal Russo (right) and former Labor leader Amir Peretz (left) addresses supporters and media as the results in the general elections are announced in Tel Aviv, on April 9, 2019 (Flash90)

Earlier in the day, the secretary-general of the Labor Party publicly called for Gabbay to resign, saying a new leader was needed in order to “begin the work of rebuilding” the once venerable left-wing party.

Labor has a dizzying history of replacing its chairman after election losses. Since it last won the election in 1992, it has seen a whopping total of 13 different leaders.

On Wednesday, MK Eitan Cabel, who placed low in the Labor primary after criticizing Gabbay and won’t be in the next Knesset, said: “Gabbay must hand over the keys immediately and [we must] choose a temporary party chairman, because the situation as it is cannot continue.”

In the 2015 elections, Labor, running together with Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua in an alliance called the Zionist Union, was the second-largest party.

Zionist Union chairman Avi Gabbay (L) announces the shock break up of the Zionist Union as his erstwhile partner, head of opposition Tzipi Livni, looks on, during a party faction meeting in the Knesset on January 1, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

But months ahead of Tuesday’s elections, Gabbay announced on live TV the termination of Labor’s ties with Hatnua, as Livni sat by his side without having been given advance notice.

The move was widely slammed and was seen as a major cause for an erosion in support for Gabbay.

But the party also saw much of its base flee to Blue and White as its voters looked for a way to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The results point to a sad decline for the party that was instrumental in establishing the State of Israel.

The Labor Party was formed in 1968 by a merger of three parties, one of which was David Ben-Gurion’s Mapai party, which was founded in 1930. In the years leading to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Mapai was the de facto leadership of the Jewish community and played a key role in the creation of the state.

In this May 14, 1948 photo, cabinet ministers of the new State of Israel are seen at a ceremony at the Tel Aviv Art Museum marking the creation of the new state, during prime minister David Ben-Gurion’s speech declaring independence. (AP Photo)

Labor remained Israel’s unchallenged ruling party until 1977, when Likud wrested the premiership away. Since then, it held power for a total of eight years, two of them as part of a unity government with Likud. That period included the 1990s Oslo Accords, negotiated by then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and his foreign minister, Shimon Peres.

Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist in 1995, and the Oslo Accords remain highly controversial among Israelis.

Ehud Barak’s victory in the 1999 elections and his two-year premiership were the last time an Israeli coalition was led by Labor, which has been in decline since.

Agencies contributed to this report.