Head of the Labor Party Amir Peretz said on Sunday during a party meeting that he apposes the Right of Return of the Palestinian Refugees into Israel, and apposes any “partition” of Jerusalem, stating that it will remain the united capital of the State of Israel.
“Arab members of the Knesset are fed up with their leadership”, Perez said, “they say that I am against withdrawing from the east of Jerusalem, and against the Right of Return, they are rights about this; I want Jerusalem to remain united, forever after, and I am against the Right of Return of the refugees into Israel”.
Also, Peretz charged that the Arab leaders in Israel are ignoring the difficult social conditions Arabs are facing in the country, and that they are only concentrating on the Right of Return.
Peretz added that he cannot forgive Sharon for his political past, saying that Sharon used millions to Shekels to build the Gush Katif settlement block in the Gaza Strip instead of developing the educational system, the poor cities, and constructing advanced factories.
“I always told myself, let’s forgive him for the Beirut invasion [in 1982]”, Peretz said, “but you and your supporters, did not have mercy on the aged people in Israel, and reduced their allowance making them search in the garbage”.
Earlier on Monday, Labor Central Committee approved Peretz’s decision to quit from the Sharon government with a vast majority; this voting comes just two days before the Knesset vote on dissolving the Knesset and conducting new elections; Shimon Peres and Haim Ramon did not attend the meeting.
A source close to Peres said that he is currently considering quitting the political life, especially after his repeated failure to win the chairmanship of the Labor party, and was describe by political analysts as “the loser”.
Several Labor party leaders, especially Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, and the secretary general of the Labor Party, MK Eitan Cabel, support the withdrawal of Peres from the political arena.
