Ideological riddle
Despite the short time that has elapsed since the result of the Labor Party’s leadership vote was announced, it’s already clear that newly elected chairman Avi Gabbay has breathed new life into the party. The left now feels that it’s possible to expand its ranks and even to return to power.
Nevertheless, the most important question, which hasn’t yet been answered, is the nature of the change Gabbay is bringing. Precisely because he is a representative of the “new politics” and lacks a public record from which a clear political profile could be drawn, he is an ideological riddle.
Gabbay, who has voted Likud in the past, co-founded the Kulanu party with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and then quit the Netanyahu government over the firing of Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon.
His socio-economic worldview is unclear. He’s a free marketer who believes in improving government agencies and public systems by “upping the budget for civilian spending to proportions similar to the norm in the OECD”. His personal wealth, which he accumulated as chief executive of Bezeq, is estimated at millions of shekels, but he still benefits from a middle-class image.
On the diplomatic front, Gabbay has been careful not to stray beyond the bounds of the familiar comfort zones: Two states, a regional peace process and freezing settlement construction outside the major blocs.
Even his 17-year-old son Daniel went farther than that when he said, “My father is going to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.”
Gabbay’s main goal is to bring new voters to Labor – starting by returning those who decamped for Yesh Atid – and thus to replace the government. “We’ll replace Netanyahu and bring the 30 Knesset seats we need,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Gabbay understands quite well that the only way to effect change is via the ballot box. He’s right, and therefore, we shouldn’t make light of his achievement in the party leadership vote, and or the fact he won despite his weak starting point. For a party as devoid of self-confidence as Labor, that’s an important asset.