Labor Party leader Peretz secretly signs coalition agreement
The agreement calls for Peretz to become economy minister and Labor MK Itzik Shmuli to become welfare minister.
By GIL HOFFMANLabor Party leader Amir Peretz and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz sign coalition agreement, April 24, 2020(photo credit: COURTESY LABOR PARTY SPOKESPERSON)Labor Party leader Amir Peretz and MK Itzik Shmuli signed an agreement with Blue and White leader Benny Gantz on Friday to enter the coalition that Gantz will head together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Peretz and Shmuli kept the signing secret from Labor MK Merav Michaeli, who opposes entering the government and learned that the deal had been signed from a news alert by a newspaper that she received on her phone.The Labor activists who are due to vote Sunday on entering the government, were also not told in advance that they would only be asked to rubber-stamp an agreement that had already been reached.“They don’t care about our voters or our members and [signing the deal now] proves that they also don’t care about the activists at the convention,” Michaeli said. “On Sunday, we will vote against Netanyahu’s government of immunity from prosecution.” Michaeli’s lawyers sent Peretz a formal letter asking to postpone the convention to at least Thursday, because regulations had not been set to ensure the online and telephone voting from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday would be conducted in a trustworthy matter. The lawyers asked for the voting to be overseen by a retired judge, with representatives from both camps as observers.The Labor official in charge of the party’s membership rolls was recently fired by Peretz. Labor activists who oppose entering the government complained that they had not received invitations to vote.The invitation says the question the activists will vote on asks whether they are in favor of the agreement reached with Blue and White and not about entering a government that will initially be led by Netanyahu. Michaeli’s lawyers wrote that Blue and White’s coalition deals with both Likud and Labor must be presented to Labor members before they vote.Labor’s agreement with Blue and White calls for Peretz to become economy minister and Shmuli to become social welfare minister. Gantz welcomed the agreement, praising Peretz and Shmuli’s commitment to socioeconomic issues.Shmuli said he would make the government’s socioeconomic policies better for the poorer sectors of the population while stopping the government from taking what he called “irresponsible diplomatic steps and moves against democracy.”Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai, a veteran Labor member, announced that he opposed entering the government.
