Former IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. (res.) Dan Halutz recently put out feelers within the Labor Knesset faction and people close to party leader MK Shelly Yachimovich to see if he should quit Kadima and join Labor. His intentions are likely due to Kadima's precarious position in recent polls. Israel Hayom has learned that as part of Halutz's efforts to see whether he could get a spot on Labor's Knesset list, he decided to participate in the "Suckers Camp" protest, since one of the protest's leaders, Itay Ben Horin, is Yachimovich's strategic adviser. Channel 2 reported on Sunday that despite Halutz's efforts, Yachimovich's associates have rejected the idea of his joining the party. According to them, there is no forgiveness for a chief of staff who, during a security meeting before the start of the Second Lebanon War, left the room to sell his stock portfolio. According to an official response by Yachimovich's office, "the Labor Party is a democratic party and whoever wants to run for it can do so." Halutz himself has said, "I have no intention of moving to the Labor Party."
