Last week's Labor primary election was another step on the party's path to altering its image and diversifying its platform. The primaries had a good starting point. After leader Ehud Barak and four others left to establish the Independence party in January 2011, Labor was left with only eight MKs. From an electoral perspective, this puts the party in a position where its power can only grow, leaving considerable room for new faces alongside the veteran leadership. Party Chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich assumed the leadership under the banner of changing the social agenda. She vowed to combat the greedy capitalism that has invaded Israel over the last 15 years, which has undermined Israel's social solidarity and widened social gaps. The strategy she adopted is a direct continuation of social justice protests that swept the country in the summer of 2011, but with the promise of a solid platform and clear priorities. This strategy, however, has not yet been fully developed into a viable alternative capable of drawing undecided voters with a clear, catchy, convincing and accessible agenda. I do not subscribe to a utopian outlook detached from reality. Replacing an incumbent government in Israel is harder than parting the Red Sea. Public opinion is shifting. Voters may not identify with the views of rightists such as Likud MKs Yariv Levin, Zeev Elkin and Moshe Feiglin (recently voted onto the Likud Knesset list), but this does not stop them from voting for the Right. I don't think a Center-Left alliance is the appropriate response to the union between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liebermans Yisrael Beytenu. Each individual party in the Center-Left will have to increase its own share of Knesset seats to change the balance of power between the Left and Right blocs, and not just within their own bloc. Labor's Knesset list presents a gallery of veteran, well-known figures alongside new names who are warriors by nature and are determined to change the party's status in the eyes of the public. I can't remember a time when the party had six women among its top 20 candidates, as well as such ethnic diversity, in stark contrast to the Likud list. Furthermore, the party that was once considered mature has now become a young party, both in terms of registered party voters and the new candidates. In its heyday, Labor was a pluralistic party, deeply divided over diplomatic and economic issues. It contained a dovish wing, with representatives such as Pinhas Sapir and Yitzhak Ben-Aharon, and a hawkish wing with figures like Yisrael Galili and Shlomo Hillel. The dispute was exposed to the public, but this pluralism offered a wide range of voters, with various views, a party they could identify with and vote for. But now, things have changed. The public's skepticism over diplomacy with the Palestinians has created a pessimistic outlook, boosting support for the Right. This is where the true dilemma lies: Will this party offer a clear alternative not only on internal and economic issues but also on foreign policy, security and Israel's international status? In my opinion, the first step for an opposition party is to accept the challenge, because there is no other choice. Israel's bankruptcy, reflected in the world's unprecedented support for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the U.N. last week, is a strategic threat. Labor's Knesset list promises the will to fight, but this will is rendered ineffective unless it is backed up by a clear message. Until now, the party's strategy has focused on addressing social issues and on blurring the diplomatic picture. But the diplomatic picture will not stay blurred, and the issue has only become more extreme. Only an intelligent integration of social-economic issues alongside a clear diplomatic agenda will provide Labor with the one thing it wants more than anything else to be a clear, viable alternative to the current government.
