An Israeli Political Revolution

An Israeli political revolution occurred 2 weeks ago with the election of Amir Peretz as head of the Israeli Labor Party. To understand just how large of a revolution this development is, one must first understand the ethnic and political dynamics which govern Israeli society.

The Labor party was the party of the founding fathers of Israel and Zionism. By and large all of these founding fathers such as Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, and Shimon Peres were all European (Ashkenazic), hostile to religion, and socialist minded. In the 1950's and 1960's, scores of Jews from Arab countries such as Iraq, Yemen, Morocco, and Syria started arriving in Israel. Most of them were religiously and culturally worlds apart from the socialist Labor party leaders and they felt that their heritage was dismissed and that they were looked down upon as uneducated and that their culture was not authentically "Israeli".

It was due to this dynamic that the first Israeli political "revolution" occurred in 1977. Menachem Begin, under the banner of the rightist Likud party, tapped into the grievances felt by the Mizrachim (Jews from Arab countries). In this Polish Jew they saw someone who wouldn't look down on them because they were more traditional or think less of them because they did not fit the mold of the sophisticated European socialist. It is largely due to the Mizrachi vote that Begin was elected the first non-Labor leader in Israel's history. The Mizrachim stayed in the Likud by and large until today. Even though under Benjamin Netanyahu as finance minister the Likud instituted privatization measures that hurt the poor, the Mizrachim (who along with the Arabs and ultra-orthodox make up a disproportionate amount of the poor in Israel) continued to support Likud and never forgave the Labor party for the humiliation that it inflicted upon their grandparents (Much like American Southerners who for most of the 20th century refused to vote Republican as it was "the party of Lincoln"). To this day there has never been a Mizrachi prime minister of Israel despite the fact that they make up almost 50% of the Israeli electorate.

Now finally you have someone like Amir Peretz elected to become head of the Labor Party. Amir Peretz's story is the story of the Mizrachi immigrants. Born in Morocco in the town of Boujad, Peretz immigrated to Israel with his family in 1956 and was settled in the euphemistically titled "development town" of Sderot in the south (To this day Sderot is a symbol of economic depression and unemployment in Israel). In 1983 Peretz answered a call made by friends, and ran for the office of mayor of the town of Sderot, as candidate of the Israel Labour Party. At only thirty years of age he won a victory which ended a long period of dominance of the town's politics by the right-wing Likud party and the national-religious Mafdal party. Later in his life he went on to become leader of Israel's powerful labor union, Histadrut.

Many Likudniks, realizing the deep wounds that Netanyahu's right wing economic policies have inflicted on Israel's working poor are worried that a populist campaign by Peretz will cut into their Mizrachi base, almost considered a backbone of the party. Also, Peretz's background and life story has given him a profound sense of respect among Mizrachim, even those who vote for the Likud or the religious Shas party. These two facts may portend political realignment to rival that of 1977 and may finally mean that Israel's labor party will have new life breathed into it, much like Tony Blair did to his own Labor party. The fact that Peretz is considered a dove on peace issues also has many in Israel's peace camp excited about the increased prospect of a final peace deal with the Palestinians. His campaign strategists have already told him to focus on economic issues and not emphasize his dovish views vis-a-vis the Palestinians. Yet the fact that Israelis would be willing to vote for someone who does not emphasize hawkish views may serve to show how much the past year of relative quiet and the successful implementation of the disengagement from Gaza might have moderated the political landscape and given rise to new support for renewed diplomatic initiatives.