Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg officially began his campaign for the leadership of the Labor Party on Monday. Burg says that the main problem plaguing the party is \"the infighting, the divisions, the slander…\" He promises leadership \"that is no longer a one-man show, that of a team.\" Burg’s competition for the top spot is Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, who has made a decided shift to the political left in recent days. Ben-Eliezer, like Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, has called for a return to negotiations with Yasser Arafat, despite the ongoing terrorist war. Two weeks ago, the Defense Minister opened his campaign with a press conference at which he emphasized his credentials and political experience to enable him to rehabilitate the party. The winner of the race will be Labor\'s candidate for prime minister in the next national election.
Primaries are scheduled for September 4, but Labor\'s central committee will convene next Sunday (August 12) to decide whether or not to delay them and for how long. Former MK Gedalia Gal is backing a petition to delay the primaries because, \"holding the Party primaries now would lead to Labor leaving the government.\" While both candidates have expressed opposition to a postponement, chairman of Burg\'s election campaign Avi Yehezkel says that Ben-Eliezer is actually behind the initiative, together with Shimon Peres, in what he termed “the ultimate \'stinking maneuver..,\'\" alluding to the term the late Prime Minister Rabin once used to describe a tactic of Peres. Last week, Ben-Eliezer obliquely implied that the Burg camp was inciting against him among Arab constituents upset with the government’s defense policy. The Labor prime ministerial candidate usually receives some 95% of the Arab vote. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak sent a letter to Ben-Eliezer yesterday expressing support for his candidacy for leadership of the Labor Party.
Primaries are scheduled for September 4, but Labor\'s central committee will convene next Sunday (August 12) to decide whether or not to delay them and for how long. Former MK Gedalia Gal is backing a petition to delay the primaries because, \"holding the Party primaries now would lead to Labor leaving the government.\" While both candidates have expressed opposition to a postponement, chairman of Burg\'s election campaign Avi Yehezkel says that Ben-Eliezer is actually behind the initiative, together with Shimon Peres, in what he termed “the ultimate \'stinking maneuver..,\'\" alluding to the term the late Prime Minister Rabin once used to describe a tactic of Peres. Last week, Ben-Eliezer obliquely implied that the Burg camp was inciting against him among Arab constituents upset with the government’s defense policy. The Labor prime ministerial candidate usually receives some 95% of the Arab vote. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak sent a letter to Ben-Eliezer yesterday expressing support for his candidacy for leadership of the Labor Party.