Details on the deal between Labor party head Yitzchak Herzog and former Hatnua head – and Justice Minister – Tzipi Livni were revealed on Sunday. The back-room deal cooked up by the two last week was published just hours before a Labor Party meeting Sunday night, where members of the party will be asked to approve the fait accompli.
Under the deal, five seats through the top 25 on the Labor list will be reserved for candidates of Livni’s choice. Her candidates will run for the 8th, 16th, 21st, 24th, and 25th seats on the list. According to polls, the bottom two or three are very questionable, as it appears unlikely, at least at this point, that the joint Herzog-Livni list will get more many than 20 or 21 seats in the next Knesset.
Livni herself will receive the number two slot, while the eleventh seat is reserved for former Kadima head Shaul Mofaz.
The Labor rank and file will be asked to approve the deal Sunday night, and while it is expected to pass, Herzog, according to sources, is prepared for some dissent and loud shouting by members, who themselves will have less opportunity to serve in the next Knesset; out of the top 21 “realistic” spots, no fewer than six – including the number one spot, which goes to Herzog himself – are off limits to them.
The dissent, which has not been reported in the media, is at odds with the public display of “unity” Labor has been putting on in support of the union. Speaking Sunday, Labor MK Eitan Cabel said that he was “proud of the members of the party who have provided great support for this decision. This is the basis for the revolution of 2015.”
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