Crocodile on line one, for you
Two out of three of the 103,498 members of Israel's Labor Party voted Moday and four out of five voted for anybody other than Amir Péretz. Last summer very, very few Democrats would risk doing anything other than clapping on command when Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the AIPAC feted the Olmert/Péretz/Haloutz troika and fed their victory-by-air fantasy with munitions.
Ami Ayalon came close to getting the 40% needed to win without a second-round, with 37.5%. He's committed to Labor pulling out of the Olmert government, leaving Olmert either partnership with the religious parties or resignation. Ehud Barak picked up 30.3 percent, and predictably, he's committed to keeping Labor in Olmert's coalition.
If Barak wins the second round, Israeli Labor will continue to live on poppies and the dreams of militarism. If Ayalon wins the second round, Israeli Labor will have an alternative to the nightmare, and AIPAC will have to find a way to spin a turn away from militarism as something unmentionable.
Kudos to Moshe Ya'alon, Israel's Cindy Sheehan.
