Labor members urge Herzog to quit after coalition talks turmoil

Labor MK and former party leader Shelly Yachimovich shot back Wednesday at current Labor leader Isaac Herzog, after the latter blamed her for the failure of Labor to join the government and the appointment of Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman as defense minister.

"This evening, we saw a regrettable demonstration of lacking leadership and zero acceptance of responsibility from the person who laid out the red carpet and gave Lieberman and the Right the legitimacy to join the coalition," Yachimovich said.

Yachimovich denied Herzog's claim that she "begged to be a minister," calling it "a lie."

"I was promised to be the most senior minister after Herzog, and I refused," she said. "I rejected it outright, with contempt, due to the lack of achievements.

"I tried, along with my friends Tzipi Livni and others, to prevent [Herzog's] irresponsible crawling into Netanyahu's coalition. There was no choice other than a public struggle."

Yachimovich addressed the next election for Labor party leader, saying, "I haven't decided whether or not to run against Herzog. There is a good chance that I will. We are in the midst of a major leadership crisis, and the artificial, aggressive tone will not cover up the shame and the damage done to the Labor party -- and not just to the party."

Yachimovich was joined by many others who objected to the party joining the coalition. Following the failure of negotiations, many Knesset members blasted Herzog, going as far as to call for his immediate resignation.

Labor MK Mickey Rosenthal said, "In light of the disgrace [he] brought to the Labor party and its values, and after his failed leadership, Buji [Herzog] should return the keys and resign from his position immediately. The Labor party will not be able to rehabilitate as long as it is led by such an amateur, who played into Netanyahu's hands as he used us and threw us to the dogs."

'A disgrace to the party'

Labor MK Stav Shaffir also called on Herzog to resign, saying that "anyone who participates in this embarrassing crawl into the coalition should put down the keys and go home."

Similarly outraged, Labor MK Yossi Yonah said, "Everyone knows how serious it is to use false patriotism to distract the public and lead it astray. Instead of mudslinging at his fellow party members, Herzog should take responsibility for the shameful, reverberating failure of the process he cooked up.

"Herzog would do better to take his combative language and use it now as opposition leader, instead of using it against his fellow faction members. The right step to take now would be to set a date for the primaries for party leadership and to allow the party members to decide who they want as a leader."

Labor MK Erel Margalit was also critical of Herzog. "Every time we thought Herzog had taken us as low as we could go, he shouted up to us from even lower down," he said. "Buji got confused while crawling [into the coalition]. It's not 'Lieberman or us,' it's 'Bibi [Netanyahu] or us.' Opposition is not a dirty word. You can breathe there."

The only Labor MK to express support for Herzog was Eitan Broshi, who said, "The recent development in the negotiations and the addition of Yisrael Beytenu proves that Herzog acted appropriately and tried to achieve an alternative to the most right-wing government in the history of the state due to his sense of national responsibility and effort to look out for the country's best interests."

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