Ehud Barak announces he is leading his new Independence party in the
upcoming election and adds, “This is not a reality show.”
Dr. Einat Wilf, chairman of the party’s caucus and who followed Barak
after he quit the Labor party last year, told reporters, “We made it
very clear we are running independently against all the rumors that
we are joining the Likud, rumors that always were instigated by
several paranoid members of the Likud.
Lacking any other political home, Barak is gambling that his official
entry in the campaign will attract more support to give him enough
votes to pass the minimum two Knesset seats needed for a party to be
represented in the legislature.
All polls have showed him failing to reach the minimum, but a new
poll Wednesday morning indicated he could win three seats.
Elections are assumed to be called for early September or mid-
October, but Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will not announce his
preference until the end of the seven-day mourning period for his
father, Prof. Benzion Netanyahu.
Dr. Wilf said she does not accept results from the polls and
stated, “The polls are looking fine. We are getting three seats and
now that people know we are running, I have no doubt we will rise in
the polls. We will not be a large party but certainly an important
one.”
She described the new party as being in the political center and
successor to the “hawkish wing” of the original Labor party.
Barak made it clear in his remarks that he is running for Defense
Minister. His success has been based on his connections with the
military industrial complex, for which he worked after he quit
politics following his being trounced in the elections in 2001.
