Both Sharon's new list "Kadima" ("Forward!") and Armand "Amir" Peretz's Labor are signing up new people "left", "right", and center.
Sharon made a rather dubious "catch" in the guise of Shimon Peres. Peres has left Labor and supports Sharon, but will not join the party (which is just as well, considering that the only election Peres has ever won was for the leadership of his youth movement 60-odd years ago). Peres remains an asset on the diplomatic scene and goes some way towards allaying fears that Sharon's list is a right-wing wolf in centrist sheep's clothing, but otherwise it is not clear whether he is an electoral liability or an asset. Support from outside the party may be the best for all involved.
But there are others. Shinui co-founder Prof. Uriel Reichman jumped ship to Kadima --- whether because he sees Kadima as the new Center party or because he sees the electoral writing on the wall for Shinui, or both.
Education Ministry director-general Ronit Tirosh --- who was promptly told by her boss, Education Minister Limor Livnat, that she could be either in the Education Ministry or in Kadima. If Sharon does win, she's expected to become Deputy Minister of Education.
Then there is one of my least favorite politicians, Iraqi-born Dalia Itzik of Labor, joined Sharon, saying "Labor under Peretz is more [far-left party] Meretz than Meretz". (I remember Itzik, among other things, as a woman who barely speaks English yet wished to become ambassador to the UK, and on one occasion was seen on TV playing with her flip-flops during an official interview in her ministerial cabinet.)
Now let's look at Labor's latest catches. First, Internet gambling milliardaire Avi Shaked, one of the bankrollers of Yossi Beilin's bankrupt "Geneva initiative". Shaked somehow manages to declare himself a "proud milliardaire socialist" without vomiting himself to death. (Coming next: Bill Gates explaining why he has always been a proud open-source supporter. And those howling in protest at the involvement of bingo hall millionaire Irving Moskowitz on the political right are strangely silent now.)
Second, there's Ben-Gurion University president Prof. Avishai Braverman, who oversaw an unprecedented expansion of his institution. His relentless playing of the "depressed region" and "affirmative action" cards in securing funds for his institution actually makes him look like that unimaginable entity --- Amir Peretz with brains. From a Macchiavellistic perspective, Braverman is the best president BGU ever had: whether the increasing funneling away of resources --- both monetary and human --- from Israel's top research universities is a positive thing for Israeli science as a whole is another matter. (One of my "ears" in academia --- outside BGU --- told me he considered voting for Braverman simply so he would cease being BGU president.)
And last but not least, there is... Channel 2 journalist Shelly Yachimowitz. Her joining Labor is no surprise to anybody familiar with her opinionated reporting, but it does tell you something about "objectivity" in the Israeli media. Calls for a "cooling off" period arise, and of course I just heard former Meretz leader Shulamit Aloni pooh-poohing such calls. Naturally...
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