Leftist Opposition Leader Herzog: Israeli Public Fed Up With Radical Left

TEL AVIV – Israeli opposition leader MK Isaac Herzog, head of the leftist Labor party, the largest faction in the Zionist Union party, spoke out against the radical left on Saturday, Arutz 7 reported.

“The public is tired of hearing about the radical left that accuses Israel for the situation without proposing solutions that preserve the security of Israel, and [of hearing about] the radical right that wants to force an unavoidable annexation of tons of Palestinians in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria on us,” said Herzog.

Speaking at an event in Ramat Gan, Herzog promoted his plan for separating from the Palestinians, claiming that it is the “only initiative that comes to protect Israel as a Jewish, safe, and democratic state.”

He accused both the radical right and the radical left of “prattl[ing] slogans that will lead us to ‘Israestine,’ a Jewish-Arab state between the Jordan [River] and the [Mediterranean] Sea.” He said that his plan would end the current wave of terror and the only one that could be feasibly implemented “tomorrow morning.”

Herzog, who recently argued that the two-state solution is no longer viable, proposed that Israel unilaterally disengage from the Palestinians by completing the separation barrier in order to “detach from the Palestinians as much as possible.”

Herzog said that the Palestinian Authority (PA) would be given civilian authority in the West Bank while the IDF would retain security authority until a peace deal is signed. He also called for a regional committee with Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab states to bolster the fight against terror groups and introduce “confidence-building measures.”

Herzog ripped into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for being “paralyzed by fear.”

“Underneath heavy makeup and a meticulous hairdo, you’ll find a frightened Netanyahu hiding,” he said when he presented his plan.

While the Labor party formally adopted Herzog’s plan, some Labor MK’s accused Herzog of giving up on negotiations and moving too far to the right.

Former leader of the Labor party Shelly Yachimovich slammed Herzog’s plan, arguing, “The Labor Party must offer an alternative political dialogue, not just to give up on it and use the common right-wing claim that ‘there is no one to talk to.’ ”

Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly expressed interest in the separation initiative.