Kadima Activists angered by cancellation meeting, "We aren't at war..."
Activists angered by cancellation of Kadima meeting
July 03, 2006
Haartez
By Mazal Mualem
Last Thursday, mayors and activists affiliated with the Kadima party were informed that the first meeting of the party's council, due to take place this evening, had been postponed.
The meeting was called to start the process of building party institutions and to send the message that Kadima is alive and kicking. But Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was scheduled to attend, decided to postpone it due to the security crisis.
Several mayors and party activists were unhappy with this decision, arguing that the crisis was not a reason for canceling the gathering, and that holding it would actually have conveyed a message of strength.
"To me, it seems like an evasion - the feeling is that they didn't manage to get organized," said one mayor. "What's wrong with holding a political conference? We aren't at war. And this isn't a victory party."
Kadima's spokesman termed such arguments "petty and baseless." Some 1,000 activists had confirmed their attendance, and the party had made extensive logistical preparations, he said. Olmert had indeed ordered the event canceled solely because of the security situation.
But the criticism of the cancelation is just one symptom of Kadima's larger problem: growing unhappiness among the party's mayors, activists, Knesset members and ministers, who claim that the lack of institutions and political activity, the disconnect from the field, the lack of new members (to date, 15,000 people have joined) and the uncertain future of its political program - mainly the convergence plan - do not bode well for the party.
That is the gist of what Olmert heard last Thursday from Shmuel Rifman, one of the first mayors to abandon the Labor Party for Kadima. Rifman said that if Olmert did not take matters in hand, Kadima was liable to prove to be ephemeral. "No one knows when the next elections will be," he said. "It takes time to organize. But in practice, nothing has happened: Party institutions have not been established."
Olmert responded that such developments take time and that organizational activity would begin soon.
Rifman, a veteran political activist from the Negev, had planned to start creating an organizational infrastructure for Kadima in the south. "But I don't intend to do anything until the party sets a clear policy," he added. Rifman said that he does not regret moving to Kadima, but added that many majors and activists who left other parties for Kadima "are frustrated. They feel that they are being ignored. Someone will pay the price. They aren't suckers, and they feel that they've been used and thrown away." When former prime minister Ariel Sharon established Kadima, he recruited about 100 mayors from both Likud and Labor to give him the nucleus of a party infrastructure. For this reason, Olmert insisted after being elected that Kadima retain control of the Interior Ministry, which is responsible for the local authorities. But many of these mayors, who had hoped to find an open door at the Kadima-led ministry, now feel that they are being ignored. They are particularly outraged that the government decided to raise the minimum wage, which will cost them an extra NIS 250 million a year, without consulting them.
"We expected [Kadima Interior Minister Roni] Bar-On to be accessible, but it's impossible to reach him," said a former Likud mayor who joined Kadima. "If things go on this way, [Kadima] won't have an infrastructure in the field next election. Most of us won't want to run as Kadima [candidates], but as independents."
"I'm not working to bring anyone into Kadima, because it's not clear what will happen," he added. "There is grumbling among the mayors, and it will erupt soon. I've already heard of mayors who are talking about returning to Likud."
Bar-On replied that such talk is not serious; he believes that it is merely an effort to extort him. He added that he plans to meet with the mayors soon, but until this point, he had nothing useful to say to them, because the government only approved the 2006 budget two weeks ago.
Kadima's faction chairman, MK Avigdor Yitzhaki, insisted that these are merely birth pangs. "The test," he said, "will be the municipal elections in November 2008."
July 03, 2006
Haartez
By Mazal Mualem
Last Thursday, mayors and activists affiliated with the Kadima party were informed that the first meeting of the party's council, due to take place this evening, had been postponed.
The meeting was called to start the process of building party institutions and to send the message that Kadima is alive and kicking. But Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was scheduled to attend, decided to postpone it due to the security crisis.
Several mayors and party activists were unhappy with this decision, arguing that the crisis was not a reason for canceling the gathering, and that holding it would actually have conveyed a message of strength.
"To me, it seems like an evasion - the feeling is that they didn't manage to get organized," said one mayor. "What's wrong with holding a political conference? We aren't at war. And this isn't a victory party."
Kadima's spokesman termed such arguments "petty and baseless." Some 1,000 activists had confirmed their attendance, and the party had made extensive logistical preparations, he said. Olmert had indeed ordered the event canceled solely because of the security situation.
But the criticism of the cancelation is just one symptom of Kadima's larger problem: growing unhappiness among the party's mayors, activists, Knesset members and ministers, who claim that the lack of institutions and political activity, the disconnect from the field, the lack of new members (to date, 15,000 people have joined) and the uncertain future of its political program - mainly the convergence plan - do not bode well for the party.
That is the gist of what Olmert heard last Thursday from Shmuel Rifman, one of the first mayors to abandon the Labor Party for Kadima. Rifman said that if Olmert did not take matters in hand, Kadima was liable to prove to be ephemeral. "No one knows when the next elections will be," he said. "It takes time to organize. But in practice, nothing has happened: Party institutions have not been established."
Olmert responded that such developments take time and that organizational activity would begin soon.
Rifman, a veteran political activist from the Negev, had planned to start creating an organizational infrastructure for Kadima in the south. "But I don't intend to do anything until the party sets a clear policy," he added. Rifman said that he does not regret moving to Kadima, but added that many majors and activists who left other parties for Kadima "are frustrated. They feel that they are being ignored. Someone will pay the price. They aren't suckers, and they feel that they've been used and thrown away." When former prime minister Ariel Sharon established Kadima, he recruited about 100 mayors from both Likud and Labor to give him the nucleus of a party infrastructure. For this reason, Olmert insisted after being elected that Kadima retain control of the Interior Ministry, which is responsible for the local authorities. But many of these mayors, who had hoped to find an open door at the Kadima-led ministry, now feel that they are being ignored. They are particularly outraged that the government decided to raise the minimum wage, which will cost them an extra NIS 250 million a year, without consulting them.
"We expected [Kadima Interior Minister Roni] Bar-On to be accessible, but it's impossible to reach him," said a former Likud mayor who joined Kadima. "If things go on this way, [Kadima] won't have an infrastructure in the field next election. Most of us won't want to run as Kadima [candidates], but as independents."
"I'm not working to bring anyone into Kadima, because it's not clear what will happen," he added. "There is grumbling among the mayors, and it will erupt soon. I've already heard of mayors who are talking about returning to Likud."
Bar-On replied that such talk is not serious; he believes that it is merely an effort to extort him. He added that he plans to meet with the mayors soon, but until this point, he had nothing useful to say to them, because the government only approved the 2006 budget two weeks ago.
Kadima's faction chairman, MK Avigdor Yitzhaki, insisted that these are merely birth pangs. "The test," he said, "will be the municipal elections in November 2008."
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 6:30 PM
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