Israel Tent Protest. Where is Labour?

By Natan Doron / @natandoron

A country that so often only makes global headlines for reports of war, Israel is experiencing a political crisis. Thousands of protesters across the nation have constructed ‘tent cities’ to highlight anger about the chronic housing shortage and astronomical rent prices. In rhetoric familiar to those in the UK, right-wing Prime Minister Netanhyahu is blaming the crisis on red-tape and bureaucracy.

Crucially, Netanyahu is also caving into pressure, promising to build more homes and cancelling diplomatic commitments to manage the crisis. This is doing nothing to stem the growing anger. The reason is that this wave of political protest is moving on from housing and has extended to wider anger at rising prices and a drop in living standards. The mood is firmly against Netanyahu, a Prime Minister fast depleting his political capital. An editorial from the national paper Ha’aretz reports:

“…the protest has swept up a broad public that has displayed a kind of solidarity and involvement that seemed gone forever.”

Protest and solidarity against a right-wing government? Where is the Labour Party in all this? The answer is, not in a fit state. Still in the middle of a long drawn-out leadership race, candidates have been accused of forging papers to beef up their membership drive numbers; some of the high profile candidates have even seen their exchanges descend into personal slander. Front-runner Mitzna was seen to make a racial slur toward rival Peretz, hardly the (alleged) behaviour of a future Prime Minster.

From a source within the party, I’m told that the silver lining in all this is that participation amongst the young is at a new high. From the reports of party in-fighting, this is time for a younger generation to come in, take hold and modernise. The party is desperately in need of credibility if it is to prove a decent opposition and more importantly, an alternative government.

It’s a serious shame that in the midst of crisis for a hawkish, right-wing Israeli Prime Minister there is not a unified and strong Labour party to capitalise on the mood of the nation and set out an attractive alternative political project. There is also a lesson for opposition parties everywhere: unity, unity, unity.

If Netanyahu’s government does collapse, it’s unclear who will fill the void. With September an important moment in the peace process, the thought of a power vacuum in Israel is a worrying prospect. Labour needs a leader, and Israel is crying out for a new direction. Could this be a moment to bring forward September’s leadership elections and thrust someone onto the stage? Or is the party too far from credibility? A lot is at stake, and the world is watching.