This is how Labor dies. Not with a whimper. Not with a bang. More like assisted suicide.

Mark this day, Tuesday 24 March 2009. It is on this day that Israel’s founding party ‘finishes its historical role’. Regardless of which way the vote in the convention goes today, Labor is finished. If Barak wins, Labor will serve as the fig leaf for Netanyahu’s ‘orange and black’ administration, gradually withering away under international diplomatic isolation and economic stress. If Barak loses, he could jump ship and join Bibi, alone or with a few others, while leaving the rest of Labor [what will they call themselves, the Real Labor, True Labor, Provisional Labor, Continuity Labor?] to rot under the long shadow cast by the much bigger Kadima. Seven constantly-bickering opposition MKs won’t take Labor over the next electoral threshold. Continue reading →