Israel Snapshot: Labour Party Splits; How Will It Affect Coalition and Peace Talks?

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet that the Palestinian Authority was refusing to return to negotiations with Israel because of the Labor Party's threats to leave the coalition.

A day later, the story was not that Labor had left but that the party had split. Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that he would quit and,  with four of Labor's remaining 12 MKs (Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, and members of the Knesset Shalom Simhon, Einat Wilf, and Ori Noked), form a new party called Atzmaut (Independence). Barak said:

We set out today toward independence. We are creating a faction, a movement and eventually a party that will be centrist, Zionist and democratic.

The top priority [of this movement] will be first and foremost the state, then the party, and only at the end, us. We invite anyone who believes in this path to join.

The State of Israel is faced with tests that are not simple. We are ready to confront these.

We are leaving a party and a home that we love, and respect its members. Many of those members experienced with us the daily difficulties of the party, and they fell victim to the endless fighting within it.

We have reached the decision that this anomaly in political life, where they were in essence two Labor factions, had to stop.

Those who stayed in Labor welcomed Barak's move. Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog declared. "Today is a day of positive change for the Labor Party. Barak's abandonment allows for a renewal of the party and its return to social action and true vision." Herzog announced he had left the coalition and said that the  resignation of Trade Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer was on the way.

Minority Affairs Minister Avishay Braverman, who earlier this month demanded that Labor deliver an ultimatum to Netanyahu on the coalition, said: "The Labor Party does not depend on one person or another," he said. "This crisis gives us the chance to rebuild a strong movement. The Labor movement is on a new path."

Labor MK Shelly Yachimovich lambasted Barak over the "corrupt and opportunist" way in which he chose to split from the party, a process she said was aimed solely at "saving [his own] seat in the coalition". Yachimovich added: "I will do everything in power to ensure that the Labor Party returns to being that alternative."

Labor MK Eitan Cabel declared that Barak's decision "proved that these people have finally destroyed Labor", adding, "They must ask me and my colleagues for forgiveness."

And what now for the Government? Netanyahu quickly reacted, saying through aides that he believes the Labor Party split will help advance the peace process with the Palestinians and declaring that this has bolstered the coalition: "The government has grown much stronger today, in its governance, in its stability -- and this is important for Israel."