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Labour leader’s reform plans face internal opposition

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Party reforms proposed by the new Labour leader have proved controversial, prompting heavyweight opposition from within his own party.

Avi Gabbay has proposed that the party leader be empowered to choose two of the first ten candidates on Labour’s Knesset list, as well as one of the second ten candidates and one of the third ten candidates, instead of making all potential candidates compete in a primary. He told a party conference in Ashdod last week that only people who bring added value will be given guaranteed slots.

The Jerusalem Post estimated that possible candidates for those slots include former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, former Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon, and MK Tzipi Livni, who formed the Zionist Union list with Labour before the last election.

Another highly controversial proposal is Gabbay’s desire to limit the power of the party’s Secretary-General, and abolish their reserved slot on the party list. The move faces opposition from the incumbent in the role, Eran Hermoni, who intends to try to block it at the next Labour convention. He issued a statement saying Labour would have to choose between being “a one-man party or the party of the masses”.

Speaking to Army Radio on Monday, former Labour Secretary General Ophir Paz-Pines said that if he was still an MK he would oppose Gabbay’s plan. However, he conceded that said as an outsider he understands the need to support what the new Labour leader wants to do.

He said: “Gabbay is still relatively new in Labour and wants to strengthen himself in the party. His proposal goes against the DNA of the party, but Labour must change its DNA to win. What the party has been doing hasn’t been working. If this is what Gabbay thinks he needs to do to bring the party back to power, he should be allowed to do it. Going against it now would look suicidal.”

MK Hilik Bar, who was Labour’s Secretary General until recently, pleaded with both Gabbay and Hermoni to reach an agreement ahead of the party convention. He wrote on Facebook: “It is in our hands to decide whether the convention will be a show of unity or a horror film. This is not a convention about dividing Jerusalem or the Iranian nuclear program but merely proposals to change the party constitution. The time has come to compromise.”

Gabbay also wants to be able to appoint the party’s Knesset whip and to decide which Knesset committees every party MK should sit on.

Gabbay was elected to lead Israel’s opposition Labour party on 10 July, winning 52 per cent of the vote, beating former party leader Amir Peretz in a second round run off.