“I will only appoint someone full of energy and hungry for the tasks ahead as a minister in my government,” said Labor chairman Avi Gabbay in his June 14 interview with Army Radio. But not everyone took his declaration seriously. Even several Labor Party members reacted with a mixture of ridicule and chagrin.

“What ministers is he talking about? Things are so bad that we are busy with our survival. Most of us will not be back for another term if we continue to decline in the polls,” one of the party’s dismayed lawmakers told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.

The interview capped one of the toughest weeks Gabbay has endured since his surprise victory in the July 2017 party leadership primaries. More than he is bothered by a constant slide in the polls and a bitter war of words with former party leader Amir Peretz, Gabbay is facing persistent reports that the former military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. (res.) Benny Gantz is coming to replace him in a last-ditch attempt to save the party. Despite sweeping denials by all sides of a reported agreement between Gantz and Labor, the whispering and speculation are weakening Gabbay and turning him into a lame duck who may be unable to survive as party chair until the November 2019 general elections.

When Gabbay was asked on the radio whether he could affirm that he would be the party’s candidate for prime minister in 2019, he answered, “With certainty.” Gabbay is trying to convey a sense of business as usual and displaying confidence in his ability to trounce Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the next elections. However, Knesset members of the Zionist Camp faction and especially of its main component, Labor, are walking around in a funk.