"The term 'leftist' has become a curse word in Israel, and we're going to stop that. Yes, I am a leftist, and I am not embarrassed about it. Only after we stop lowering our heads and feeling ashamed of who we are, will we win." The text appears in a video clip, "The leftists are on their way back," released April 18 by Knesset member Erel Margalit as part of his campaign for leadership of the Labor Party, the large partner within the Zionist Camp. And it is yet another expression of what is turning out to be the end of an era of political ambiguity in the Labor Party.
On July 4, Israeli Labor will elect a new leader to take them to the next election. The most interesting and important phenomenon in this race is that each candidate is highlighting a diplomatic agenda based on that of former party chair and assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. For the first time in years, they are not trying to run away from attempts to brand them as "left." In fact, quite the opposite is true.
Former Defense Minister Amir Peretz is a diplomatic dove and always has been. He is presenting a well-formulated doctrine based on the principle of diplomatic negotiations that led to separation from the Palestinians. Knesset member Omer Bar-Lev, a former chief of the Matkal commando unit, is a zealous advocate of a two-state solution. So is former Minister of Environmental Protection Avi Gabbay. Then, of course, there is Maj. Gen. Amiram Levin, who led a campaign in support of the left-wing group Breaking the Silence and could easily align himself with the left-wing Meretz Party, too. Even the current chair of the Zionist Camp, Isaac Herzog, has made the transition. Just last year, he announced that there was no one to talk to on the Palestinian side. He has since realigned himself firmly with left-wing supporters of the diplomatic process.
The party, which has reached an unprecedented low in the polls (10 seats), is undergoing a process that could prove to be much more than a pre-election gimmick. It distinguishes the Labor Party and the Zionist Camp from Yair Lapid's centrist Yesh Atid, which is doing everything it can to avoid being associated with the left. Such a strategy should win the Labor Party some of the seats that it already lost to Yesh Atid. It should also reformat the Israeli political system for many years to come.
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