The Labour Party Needs Real Change Not More of the Same!

So, Amir Peretz has announced he will run once again, for leadership of the Labour Party.

In the interest of full disclosure let me first state that I am a member of the Israeli Labour party.  I worked with and supported Yitzhak Buji Herzog, for the leadership of the Party, as I felt he was the best person for the job at the time.  I also worked with Erel Margalit, to help him get elected to the Knesset, once again because I felt he would be a good addition to the Labour team.

Today, we are in trouble.  The country is in trouble and in desperate need of a viable alternative to Bibi and the disastrous right wing coalition currently causing so much damage to the country.  The current Labour, or perhaps more accurately, Zionist Union, leadership has failed to deliver that alternative and importantly any effective opposition to Bibi, Bennett and Co.

The sad truth is that the Labour Party is perceived as a party out of touch with ordinary people, an intellectual elite which looks down upon the “Mezuzah kissing” masses who time after time choose Bibi as their leader.  The Labour party is seen a spent force with no viable policies, clinging to an ideology and policies, and a leadership, long discredited.  A friend of mine described it best when he said, “the Labour Party simply doesn’t believe in what it is selling the people, but it also doesn’t believe that the people would buy what it wants to sell”.  In short, it is a party lacking in confidence, lacking in ideas, lacking in ideas and ultimately lacking in Leadership.

From the outside, Labour appears and has for some time now, perhaps always; as a party at war with itself.  Following the defeat in the last election, as if on cue, the usual suspects gathered round like a pack of wolves, about to turn on their leader.   Rather than learn from the defeat, come together and help Bougi build an effective opposition and develop a strong team which could be perceived by the public as a viable alternative and even, a government in waiting, those usual suspects preferred to play “Game of Thrones”. 

Each of them set about their plans to further their own interests and undermine leader and in so doing their party, in order that they could be the next one to sit upon the coveted throne.  These games however, come at the expense of the Party and of the people of Israel.  Their failure in opposition has enabled this government to run roughshod over our democracy, undermine the judiciary, pander to the settler movement and indulge the Haridim to unprecedented levels.

It is imperative for the party and for the people of Israel that Labour re-emerge as a powerful and credible force in politics, able to combat the extremes and the excesses of the right and provide the people of Israel with a genuine and credible alternative way forward.  In order to do so, Labour must take drastic steps and reinvent itself, because what Labour is today, what Labour has become, simply doesn’t work!

So back to Amir…  Amir Peretz, has the audacity to abandon the party then come back with the same sense of entitlement that drove him to leave the party in the first place when he failed in his last bid to lead the party. 

This sense of entitlement is shared by Shelly Yachimovich, who in time, will no doubt, announce her own candidacy.  The simple truth is that neither is capable of revitalising a party in desperate need of new ideas, new blood and a new approach.  Neither is capable of widening the appeal of the party to those who would rather follow the empty rhetoric and rather superficial “two word” soundbites of Yair Lapid.  Neither is capable of building a robust opposition to combat Bibi and Co., in the Knesset.  Neither is capable of winning an election, let alone building a coalition.  To my regret, neither is Buji.

There is no shortage of talent in the Labour Party.  There is no shortage of passion.  There is no shortage of ideas.  There is however a wholesale failure in organisation and structure which blocks that talent and that passion and those ideas, stopping them in their path.  The arrogance and sense of entitlement with which the old guard of the party jealously protects its position is wholly detrimental to the Party overall. 

Anyone with any knowledge of organisational development and importantly organisational maturity understands that in order to build a sustainable model for success you need a high level of integration between the strategic plan and the organisational design. A sustainable model for success demands, trust, engagement along with open and effective communication, both internally and externally.   

There needs to be a commitment to constant improvement, to learning and development, with a clear sense of purpose and mission, where everyone is on the same page, more or less.  Internal debate is an important part of that organisational design.

The Labour Party can and must be so much more than it is today.  It is time for the old guard to, not step aside altogether but to allow new talent to emerge, to encourage and nourish that talent to ensure a bright and sustainable future.

Rather than focus on individual personalities, pitted against each other for the leadership, it is time to have an accomplished team lead the party.  While in opposition this team can form the basis for a shadow cabinet, as they have in the UK, where talented individuals can take responsibility for specific issues, build their knowledge and hone their skills where essentially the team is presented to the public as a government in waiting. 

Yes for sure the nature of government in Israel which demands a coalition government, will mean that many in the shadow cabinet will not make it to the actual cabinet after an election victory however, they will have gained invaluable skills and public profile, preparing them for future responsibility.

It is time for the Labour party to shed the failed policies and approaches of the past.  This does not mean shedding the values and ideology that are inherent.  What is does mean is that we take these values and our ideology and develop new policies which take account of the reality on the ground, which take account of the wishes, the aspirations and the genuine and legitimate concerns  of the Israeli public. 

We need a new approach which takes account of the substantial changes in the region.  We need a new message which resonates with voters.  We need new leaders who are strong team players with the ability to lead and inspire when necessary and importantly who are prepared to delegate responsibility and empower those around them.  We want a fresh team of capable, motivated and highly credible spokespeople out there delivering our message and winning support.

The Labour Party in Israel is not alone in the challenges it faces.  One can see the failure of the Democrats in the US, the demise of the Labour Party in the UK and the weakening of the left wing across the western world.  These parties shared the same arrogant and dismissive attitude and approach to the “masses”, the progressive agenda has led to a mass alienation of the ordinary man and woman on the street and sent them into the arms of the so called populists and the far right.  We too, must share responsibility for leading the Israeli public to conclude that there is no alternative to Bibi.

Now it is up to us to show them why and how this is wrong.  This will only be achieved by a brave, new, regenerated, reorganised, creative and determined Labour Party led by the right team.  It is time for a new generation of leaders, young and old, to work together to bring about and drive forward, this much needed metamorphosis.