Israel's awakening economy and a weak Labor Party
If you're a Zionist with moderate views, then you know that Israel needs a strong Labor Party and a strong Likud Party.
That whole checks and balances thing works best that way. Though the Likud list may not be made up of as
many of Israel's best and brightest as you'd like, Ariel Sharon's Likud is fighting the war on terror while moving Israel out of Gaza. Thanks to Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's economy is going through economic reform unheard of in the once socialist Jewish state. Government companies are being privatized and Netanyahu holds almost regular press conferences announcing tax reductions.
And guess what? Its working! As of the summer of 2004, it looks like Israel's economy will expand at the rate of 3% this year.
Only a year ago, our economy was shrinking by -1% a year. Israelis understand what most Americans and many Europeans already know -- capitalism and economic reform are the best way to improve people's lives.
Israel's Labor Party doesn't get it yet. Its unpleasant for this writer to disagree with Labor Party leader Shimon Peres - Peres is a national hero and has done more for Israel than most of us will ever do. But his economic views don't match the times. When Ehud Barak reigned at Labor, it looked like Labor had finally abandoned socialism. Not so today. Here's the problem - a socialist party will never be elected to lead Israel. Not today and never tomorrow. It is hard to imagine a weak Labor Party - it'll take me years to get used to it.
Now that Netanyahu is lowering taxes, Labor can't expect to be elected on a platform of higher taxes. The socialist game is over. You'd think it would be the Likud that would be slow to catch on. Yet when the time came, a Likud leader put together a plan to evacuate Gaza and told us the truth ("No Jews will remain in Gaza after 2005."). Middle-class, progressive Israelis vote for Shinui and Likud. Less and less will vote for a party that can only say, "Yes, we would also evacuate Gaza while raising taxes!"
Too bad - Zionism needs you back, Labor.
Kenny Sahr
