The Labor Party will hit on looking for a new leader for a revival

Labor, home of the country’s founding leaders and for decades its ruling party, has begun to creep in polls, and Michaeli is once again determined to make it a major force in Israeli politics.

Michaeli, a fire woman, inspires a message that was rarely heard in Israeli politics in recent years. It seeks social justice, equality for all Israelis and peace with the Palestinians. But it will also not refuse to sit in a coalition with right-wing parties, possibly hindering its agenda, if that achieves the common goal for the future. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ousted.

“You can’t agree with me ideologically but what is clear is that I am here and that I am fighting for equality and peace,” Michaeli told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “I believe Labor is not dead, it is essential for Israel’s future. “

Her election seems to have given Labor a big move. But with many traditional voters leaving the party, her job has been cut for her ahead of the March elections. Israel’s center-left camp is broken and right-wing parties, led by Likud Netanyahu, remain dominant.

Opinion polls in recent days have predicted that Labor under Michaeli will win five seats in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset. That could jump in the coming days if, as expected, smaller parties with little chance of introduction into parliament withdraw from the race ahead of Thursday ‘s date.

While the predictions are far lower than Labour’s glory days, even a small display could make Michaeli king in a coalition of midsize parties against Netanyahu.

Labor led Israel to independence in 1948 and led the country for the first three decades, reaffirming today’s most prominent social democratic values ​​in universal health care, especially among the disease. panoramic.

Although he led Israel during the Six Day War in 1967 and built the first settlements on the West Bank, Labor signed Oslo’s peace treaties with the Palestinians and today favors a solution. two-state by the Palestinians.

But it has struggled to be relevant over the past two decades when pacification with the Palestinians was halted, alternatives emerged in the center-left and many voters appear to be embraced the rigid ideology of Netanyahu.

Michaeli took over Labor after a year of trying when he joined Knesset with a historically low support. The party was torn apart after deputy leader Amir Peretz joined Netanyahu’s government despite promises not to, driving away lifelong voters.

Michaeli chose to stay in the opposition and says she will never sit in a coalition under Netanyahu for a number of reasons, including his three corruption convictions.

She believes her decision to stay out of government, along with her message of social justice, will turn voters back.

“Because I’ve built labor, it’s still early days, but I think people have more faith that it’s possible,” she said.

Michaeli, 54, has long been a celebrity in Israel, working for a journalist and women’s rights activist before entering politics in 2013 as a Labor lawyer. She is famous for her other ideas.

She refuses to marry, even though she is in a long-term relationship with late-night TV host Lior Schleien, and says she never wanted to have children in a society that came from the command of her ‘Bible calls. She is famous for her all-black signature signature, which she has said should detract from her body and sexuality.

When she withdrew to the opposition, she vowed: “We will not let the Labor party die.” Now at the helm, she will be tested if she can deliver on that promise and hold a party. up which has six directors since Netanyahu took power in 2009.

Former Labor minister Yossi Beilin, who challenged Michaeli in the final, welcomed her election.

“The eulogies were too fast,” he said. “Merav is intelligent and ideological and proved herself in the Knesset and was not drawn into the last government,” he said.

Although he was never a cabinet minister, Michaeli has been an active lawyer and a leading voice in the Knesset, supporting women’s rights, LGBT causes and workers ’rights as well as seeking peace with the Palestinians.

Her first step as leader was to withdraw the party from the current care government, urging the two Labor ministers to leave the party. She has pledged equality of representation for women on the party list. And it intends to restore Labour’s traditional voter base, which has largely fled to other less established parties.

Michaeli led a mid-rise decline to years of “encouragement and devolution” with Netanyahu and the right.

But she said there were some mistakes in introducing themselves, such as the party once again coming together with right-wing governments whose values ​​were against its own.

“They became the enablers of right-wing governments and then it is clear that the party is losing its credibility and its ability to be an alternative and that needs to be rebuilt,” she said.

Tal Schneider, a political journalist for the Israel Times, said Michaeli has shown the political capabilities needed to push the party in a new direction. But she said Michaeli’s victory will not change the turmoil in Israel’s center-left camp.

“The problem is deeper,” she said. “But there is no doubt that she saved the party from extinction.”