JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak broke away from his centre-left Labour Party yesterday in a move Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said made his government stronger and more stable.
Barak will remain as defence chief in the right-leaning government, while the three remaining Labour ministers quit the cabinet, bringing the once-dominant political party that pioneered peace efforts with the Palestinians into opposition.
The split removes the risk that a left-wing rival could have replaced Barak as Labor leader and pulled the whole party out of the ruling coalition, possibly bringing the government down.
“The government has grown much stronger today, in its governance, in its stability — and this is important for Israel,” Netanyahu told reporters.
“The whole world knows and the Palestinians know that this government will be around for the next few years and that it is with this government that they should negotiate for peace.”
Labor’s presence in the coalition had broadened the government’s political base and softened its right-wing image abroad at a time when its policy of settlement-building on land Palestinians want for a state has led to a peace talks freeze.
