Labor party chairman Avi Gabbay has broken up the Zionist Union partnership with chairman of the opposition MK Tzipi Livni and her Hatnua party.
Speaking to the Labor party faction in the Knesset, Gabbay said, "I hoped and I believed that the change and the partnership would lead to growth, a real connection and mutual support. But the public is smart and sees that that isn't the case and has kept away. I still believe in partnership, a real connection and unifying in one big camp, agreements and faithfulness to a path forward."
In recent weeks, relations between Livni and Gabbay have not been good. Livni has been saying that the party should be closing ranks and sacrificing egos, and this has been interpreted by many as thinly veiled criticsm Gabbay.
In the last elections, the partnership agreement between Labor and Hatnua allowed the Labor leader to nominate three candidates in the Knesset top twenty list and Livni three candidates including themselves. This has created great pressure in the Labor party for places on the list in the primaries, with polls indicating that the united party would only win 10 seats.
Former Labor party chair MK Shelly Yechimovich described Gabbay's decision to break up the partnership as brave and courageous.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 1, 2019
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