The argument that the split was ideological was met with derision. But it was ideological. All of us, partners to the split, have had it with the feature that has taken over large parts of the party and the Israeli left that it was supposed to lead: endless self-flagellation. Whether it was the continued conflict and the absence of peace, or the mere absence of negotiations and the fact that the Palestinians still did not have a state, Israel was singularly responsible.
Despondent after the failure of the Camp David negotiations in 2000, empty from the loss of hope for the immediate possibility for peace, this Israeli left, which until that point found a home in Israeli Labor Party preferred to shoot the messenger, Ehud Barak, the Prime Minister and the then chair of the party, rather than accept that maybe, just maybe, the fact that the Palestinians don’t have a state has something to do with their own actions and beliefs.
The Labor party has become a shadow of the proud old Labor Zionist tradition. Labor Zionism as carried through the Labor Party and its antecedent Mapai was never a party to wallow in guilt and self-flagellation. At its best, it marked the Zionist spirit with assumption of collective responsibility, hard-nosed pragmatism, and the pursuit of peace without any illusions about our neighbors and their intentions. It was intent on building Israel’s military, economic and social strength, acknowledging that peace could only be made possible when Israel’s enemies will accept that it cannot be subdued by force.
מפלגת העבודה הפכה לצל של מסורת ציונות העבודה. ציונות העבודה כפי שבאה לידי ביטוי במפלגת העבודה ובמפא"י מעולם לא שקעה בתחושות אשמה והלקאה עצמית. במיטבן מפא"י ומפלגת העבודה שיקפו את הרוח הציונית של אחריות קולקטיבית, פרגמטיות קשיחה וחתירה לשלום ללא אשליות ביחס לשכנינו וכוונותיהם. היא בנתה את עוצמתה הצבאית, הכלכלית והחברתית של ישראל תוך הכרה ששלום יתאפשר רק כשאויביה של ישראל יקבלו שלא ניתן להכריעה בכוח.