Will Netanyahu fall?

Submitted by Anon on 13 January, 1998 - 12:40

Yochanan Lorwin, an Israeli socialist, spoke to Workers’ Liberty about the political crisis in Israel and the general strike in December which forced the right-wing government to agree to consult the unions on future economic policy.

I don’t think the government will fall. It may not last out its four years to the year 2000. The Knesset [parliament] passed the budget yesterday, 58 to 56. A no-confidence motion requires 61 votes. The government is very vulnerable now. If two or three Knesset members walk out, they could lose a no-confidence vote.

Five months down the line, maybe, the big issue coming up will be the redeployment of Israeli troops in the West Bank, and whether the right wing of Netanyahu’s government will accept any redeployment. Personally, I believe that they will, because they know that the alternative is Ehud Barak of the Labour Party. Barak will not make a solution with the Palestinians, but he will make a more generous redeployment than Netanyahu. From the right-wing point of view, the alternative is worse, so I don’t think they will make an issue of redeployment.

With the changes in the Israeli economy — textile factories moving to Jordan as a result of the peace process, the budget-cutting and the so-called neo-liberalism of the government — the general strike shows that the Histadrut is beginning to fight the anti-worker government. That is partly because it is now a more or less pure trade union. In the past it was also an employer: it owned many companies.

I don’t think this is the beginning of a workers’ revolution. But it does show a beginning of trade-union consciousness developing, and that is encouraging.

In the short term, I think the new liberal agenda will prevail anyway, because the Labour Party also supports it, though in a more moderate form. But there is some opposition from the workers.

I would be sceptical about the reports of discussions for a new independent workers’ party. Most workers in Israel vote for Likud. The Labour Party has become a middle-class party. This is partly an ethnic division. The Labour Party is supported by the Ashkenazi (European) Jews — not all of them, of course, but mostly the secular, European-descended Jews. Maybe their parents were workers: they are not, but they still support the Labour Party.

Jews from Arab and Middle Eastern countries have mostly voted for Likud as a protest. David Levy’s party Gesher [which has just left the government coalition] represents a social protest, but there is no ideology of a workers’ party. There might be small groups here and there talking about an independent workers’ party. I would be sceptical about it going very far, under present conditions, but maybe I’m sectarian.

There is some disappointment with Netanyahu. With the general aura of incompetence around Netanyahu, his image has been tarnished. We have seen over and over again in Israel that people who are in the Histadrut, and vote for Labour Party people to be their union representatives, vote Likud in a general election. People find it difficult to make a connection between the political process with the Palestinians and, for example, unemployment — though the so-called stagnation of the peace process is one of the reasons for the problems of the Israeli economy.

The fact that police are being called against workers must affect attitudes to the Establishment, but unfortunately Likud is still perceived as being anti-Establishment. The Labour Party, although it is out of power, is perceived as the Establishment.

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.