Israeli elder statesman Shimon Peres was today defeated in his party’s leadership contest by a trade unionist who promised to pull out of Ariel Sharon’s ruling coalition.
The defeat of Mr Peres appears to reflect support for Mr Peretz’s <the new leader> call for Labour to return to its socialist roots.
There’s been a decided worldwide shift to the left these past few days. Tony Blair lost a crucial vote and no longer controls his own party, Peres is gone and with him quite possibly Sharon, Schwarzenegger’s right-wing agenda was soundly defeated, and Dubya vocally backed a Republican for governor of Virginia who promptly lost, causing party insiders to say Bush is now radioactive and to be avoided.
Let’s seize the moment.