Knesset speaker and Labor party chairman candidate Avraham Burg told the Arab-Israeli newspaper Panorama that if he were elected prime minister he would negotiate with the Arabs \"even under fire, in order to achieve a cease-fire.\" Burg and Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer, who will face each other in a run-off to determine who will lead the party, are both concerned that the Druze and Arab sectors will boycott the upcoming vote.
In other Labor party news, Former Justice Minister Yossi Beilin is enlisting support for the Labor party to pull out of the national unity government headed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The issue of remaining or leaving the government will be on the party\'s central committee agenda in January. Beilin, considered an extreme left element in the party, told a French publication that the isolation of Arafat was an \"irresponsible and dangerous move.\"
Contrary (and perhaps due) to the positions taken by Beilin, Burg, and other party leaders, a recent study conducted by Ben Gurion University political-media researcher Udi Lebel indicates that Labor Party Central Committee members are not satisfied with Labor party policy these days. As reported in Ha\'aretz, Lebel said that the party members sense \"shame and de-legitimization when taking part in public discourse\" in light of the failures of Oslo and Camp David. The committee members admitted that they longed to reconnect to \'Israeli-ism\' and to distance themselves from the \'extreme left\'. They also, surprisingly, expressed their satisfaction with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and feel that he is more worthy then Burg or Ben-Eliezer to serve as the head of their own party.
In other Labor party news, Former Justice Minister Yossi Beilin is enlisting support for the Labor party to pull out of the national unity government headed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The issue of remaining or leaving the government will be on the party\'s central committee agenda in January. Beilin, considered an extreme left element in the party, told a French publication that the isolation of Arafat was an \"irresponsible and dangerous move.\"
Contrary (and perhaps due) to the positions taken by Beilin, Burg, and other party leaders, a recent study conducted by Ben Gurion University political-media researcher Udi Lebel indicates that Labor Party Central Committee members are not satisfied with Labor party policy these days. As reported in Ha\'aretz, Lebel said that the party members sense \"shame and de-legitimization when taking part in public discourse\" in light of the failures of Oslo and Camp David. The committee members admitted that they longed to reconnect to \'Israeli-ism\' and to distance themselves from the \'extreme left\'. They also, surprisingly, expressed their satisfaction with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and feel that he is more worthy then Burg or Ben-Eliezer to serve as the head of their own party.