The united slates of Israel
Labor and Hatnua announce they are joining forces for the election, but not everyone is convinced it's a good move
The first political bombshell of the season has dropped: Labor and Hatnua have teamed up and will run as one in the upcoming March election. Staring out from all of Thursday’s front pages are the smiling faces of Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni, but depending on who you read, this political union may not be a good thing.
Not surprisingly, the right-leaning Israel Hayom is critical of the union and tries to paint Tzipi Livni as a political opportunist. “The price of the union: rotation,” reads the headline, highlighting the main point of the agreement, that if they win, Herzog and Livni will rotate with each serving as prime minister for two years.
Alongside the article are four pictures of Tzipi Livni, showing her in each of her past political affiliations: Likud, Kadima, Hatnua, and now Labor.
Israel Hayom also offers reactions to the union, mostly from Likud and Jewish Home politicians. Likud’s Ze’ev Elkin said it was a disgrace that they were splitting up the premiership like a cake. He then resorted to name-calling: “It’s really a government run by Beauty and the Geek.” Danny Danon called the merger “something out of Abu Mazen’s [Mahmoud Abbas] dreams.”
Columnist Mati Tuchfeld thinks that the merger may be the result of Labor realizing it can’t offer a credible alternative to Likud. But what troubles Tuchfeld more is the cavalier way Herzog and Livni divvied up the premiership and he wonders, what if Liberman wanted in? He goes down the slippery slope and predicts that with Herzog there could be a new prime minister every three months.
While the coverage in Israel Hayom slants negative on the union, Yedioth Ahronoth is almost giddy. Of the three papers, Yedioth has the largest picture of Herzog and Livni and above it a quote attributed to both (did they say it at the same time?), “We will be the Zionist center against the extreme right.” There are also two op-eds teased on the front page with the upbeat-sounding headlines of, “Putting aside the ego” and “A brave step.”
The paper’s Ben-Dror Yemini writes of the union, “There’s the scent of change in the air.” But doesn’t mean things will change. The left has arrived at a critical junction and if it wants to win it needs to turn to the center. He writes it can learn a lesson from Netanyahu, who in the first years of his premiership was more centrist, but in the last two years turned closer to the ideals of his party. “For Netanyahu, his political interests generally have trumped national interests.” If there is a less egotistical option on the political map, he writes, that won’t be a revolution but it might be enough to move things along. “Sometimes, there isn’t a need for more than that.”
The traditionally left-leaning paper, Haaretz, seems almost indifferent to the union when compared to the other papers. It offers only a dry article and an op-ed by political columnist Yossi Verter. In his view, Herzog may have given up too much to Livni by agreeing to the rotation. “Herzog said himself a few days ago that to ascend to power ‘one must give up his ego,’ and that was very nice and noble of him. But why give up one’s honor and backbone to go beyond what is reasonable?”
Death of a PA official
With part of the front page and a full inner page of coverage, it’s safe to say that Haaretz’s top story is the death of Palestinian official Ziad Abu Ein. Palestinians claim that Abu Ein died after being struck by an Israeli border policeman on Wednesday. Netanyahu relayed a message to the Palestinian Authority that Israel will investigate what happened. In the wake of the incident, the paper reports that the Palestinians are threatening to cut off security coordination with Israel.
Amos Harel writes that security coordination is critical in preventing any escalation in the West Bank and despite the threat, there will most likely be unofficial contacts between the two sides. Harel isn’t convinced that the pictures of the protest are pictures of a murder. “Abu Ein was an older man, a heavy smoker with health problems, caught in a violent shoving match with Israeli forces while possibly inhaling pepper spray,” he writes.
Yedioth profiles Abu Ein, calling him “a terrorist who became a government minister.” He was responsible for placing a bomb in Tiberias that killed two young men in 1979. After the bombing he fled the West Bank for America where he was captured in 1981 and extradited to Israel. He was released from jail in 1985 as part of the Jibril Agreement and since his release he denied any part of the Tiberias terror attack. Despite being placed under administrative detention by Israel a few more times, he made the transition to politics and in 2006 received his first government post as deputy minister for prisoner issues in the Palestinian Authority.
Israel Hayom’s Dan Margalit writes about the death of Abu Ein, calling it “unfortunate.” Margalit fears that “the death of Abu Ein can resume the wave of unrest,” but he doesn’t think this incident merits ending the security cooperation between the two sides. He writes that at the end of the day, Abbas knows that security cooperation benefits both sides, and that without it, he wouldn’t “have a flak jacket against Hamas, Islamic State, and other bad guys.”