Has Israeli left lost battle over public opinion?
The vicious attacks by Likud members against Amir Peretz of the Zionist Camp and Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai reflect the refusal by Israeli public opinion to accept any linkage between the occupation and terror attacks.
Knesset member Amir Peretz of the Zionist Camp is one of the most eloquent and reasoned spokesmen of the Israeli left on all that relates to the connection between the occupation and Palestinian terrorism.
Throughout a nearly 40-year political career, Peretz has been consistent in his adherence to the idea of two states. He did so as the head of the Sderot municipal council and as the chairman of the Labor Party and defense minister. Even when he served as minister of the environment in Netanyahu’s third government (2013-14) — as part of the Hatnua Party, which today is part of the Zionist Camp — he did not stop raising the diplomatic flag. When he quit that government in November 2014, he claimed that the lack of a diplomatic process is dangerous and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not take it seriously.
True to this worldview, Peretz spoke out against Netanyahu June 11 and held him responsible for the terror attack at the Sarona market in Tel Aviv.
“After 10 [nonconsecutive] years in which Netanyahu has served as prime minister, we can point to him as the central figure responsible for terror attacks taking place in the center of Tel Aviv,” Peretz said, raising a media and political storm.
