Arab supporters of the Labor Party are up in arms over the party's decision to dub itself the "Zionist Camp" after joining with MK Tzipi Livni's Hatnuah party to run as a joint list in the upcoming Knesset elections. Representatives of the Labor Party in the Arab sector, headed by former minister Raleb Majadele, who lost to sports broadcaster Zuhair Bahalul in the primaries, called on Labor leader Isaac Herzog to leave the word "Zionist" out of the name. Majadele said on Saturday that "if we find out that the Labor Party has tricked us and is withdrawing from its historic alliance with Arab-Israeli voters, all options are on the table as far as we're concerned. I don't know of any magic headquarters that turns hundreds of thousands of Arabs into Zionists overnight." The Labor Party has took into account the problem the new name would cause it with Arab voters, but realized that reversing its position now would do the campaign serious damage, portraying it as having "given up on Zionism." The Zionist Camp said in response to the Arab reaction that "the men and women who vote for Labor chose Zuhair Bahalul as the representative of the Arab sector on the [party's] Knesset list in the most transparent way possible. We oppose boycotts and hope that party members and their supporters will do the same." Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin, who was supposed to be the "defense guy" in the Zionist Camp, will not be slotted on the list at all, remaining only a "possible candidate for the position of defense minister." The 11th place on the party list, which was reserved for Yadlin, has instead been filled by Professor Manuel Trajtenberg, the party's candidate for finance minister. Trajtenberg said over the weekend that he had not ruled out serving as finance minister in a government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "If Netanyahu, whom I respect, offers me the position of finance minister and is willing to hear my approach, why not-" Trajtenberg said.
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'Zionist Camp' moniker angers Arab supporters of Labor-Hatnuah
Former minister Raleb Majadele: Hundreds of thousands of Arabs don't turn into Zionists overnight, if Labor abandons us, all options are open • Labor understands problem posed by name but can't reverse decision without appearing to "give up on Zionism."