The Labor Party of Israel will part ways with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government if peace negotiations with the Palestinians are not resumed by year’s end, according to a senior member of the party.
"We will force the Labour Party to move out”, said Avishay Braverman, the Minorities Affairs Minister, who plans to compete with Defence Minister Ehud Barak for the party’s leadership.
"I will do everything I can”, Braverman said during an interview. "I don't want to put a gun to (Netanyahu's) head, but our assessment is January if there is no movement in the peace process”.
US-backed peace talks began on 2nd September, but were suspended by the Palestinians after an Israeli moratorium on settlement building in the West Bank expired on 26th September.
Palestinians fear that new settlements will deprive them of a contiguous and viable state. Netanyahu, on the other hand, says that the future of settlements should be determined at the negotiation table rather than serving as a precondition for negotiations.
Barak, who held several meetings with Washington on US plans to resume negotiations, has not given any ultimatum to Netanyahu on the future of Labor Party in his government.
Labor currently holds 13 out of the 71 seats controlled by Netanyahu in the 120-member Israeli parliament and its walkout can topple the coalition government led by Likud party.
Braverman urged Netanyahu
to do what was "important and not marginal," suggesting a 4-5 month
settlement freeze with some minor exceptions, backed by both the US and
Palestinians.
