The first meetings of the new chairman of the Labor Party, Avi Gabbay, left staffers perplexed. The new boss wasted no time on pleasantries. The meetings were “cold and businesslike,” according to one of the participants. 

“Gabbay got straight to the point and made clear that he expects a minimum of disruptions from us, because his goal is to double the number of party members to a 100,000 and get 30 seats for Labor. Obviously we also want to see him succeed, but the way he behaved with us, as though running a business and not a party, is foreign to us,” Al-Monitor learned from a second participant who like everyone else asked to remain anonymous. 

These accounts express a common sense of uncertainty regarding the future of the party under the leadership of Gabbay, who is polling well for now. Since he was elected July 10, Gabbay has met with all 24 Knesset members from the Zionist Camp (of which Labor is a partner). He told them that he intends to bring 30 seats to the party, but they all seem to have left with a strange feeling that they don’t know the man.

Gabbay entered his new role with gusto. He arrives every morning at the office vacated by former leader Isaac Herzog in the office building on Yigal Alon Street in Tel Aviv, and leaves work at a late hour. Gabbay projects a sense to those around him that there’s a new boss in town and that he has a well-ordered work plan.