Israel's Labor Party pays price for political integrity
Even if some media ridiculed the Labor Party's leaders for their support of the government's agreement with the United Nations — which was canceled four hours after it was signed — the leaders were right to stick to the party's human rights agenda as a compass.
Many in Israel have criticized the government’s plan to deport illegal African immigrants to third countries, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced April 2 that the government was retracting from that plan, after signing a special agreement with the United Nations.
Leaders of the Labor Party, headed by Chairman Avi Gabbay, were some of the first to congratulate and praise Netanyahu on calling off the deportation plan.
Member of Knesset Shelly Yachimovich called the agreement with the UN “dramatic” and noted that this is “a great victory for citizen action and the voice of ethics and logic over racism and xenophobia.” Gabbay praised “the agreement forming that reflects the legislation introduced by the Zionist Camp to address the needs of both residents and economic migrants,” but tempered his response by saying, “the test is in the execution.”
This little addition proved prescient in just a few hours. Netanyahu shelved his “dramatic” plan, which showered him with praises from the left but turned the right against him, including his own government ministers who usually defer to him in the media and toe the line.
