The Labor Party can band together to oust party chairman Avi Gabbay, Labor MK Eitan Cabel declared Friday morning at an event at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque.
Cabel said, "We can get rid of Gabbay without his assent. The Labor Central Committee is sovereign."
According to Cabel, who tore into the Labor leader at a conference of the central committee on Thursday evening, Gabbay chose to break with Tzipi Livni and her Hatnuah party because polls showed that if Livni were to become head of the Zionist Union in place of Gabbay, the joint faction would win more than 14 seats in the next Knesset.
"Difficulties notwithstanding, we have to try everything so they won't interview me and the rest of the members three months from now and ask, 'Where were you when the writing was on the wall?'" Cabel said.
"Either the Central Committee leads a move to bring Livni back, or hold open primaries. We brought in Gabbay hopefully, and at least according to the polls, that hope was false. I had the chance to split the party and I didn't," Cabel said.
Gabbay was roundly booed when he addressed the Labor Central Committee on Thursday, but nevertheless the meeting voted to pass the reforms to its party constitution he is seeking, which give him more power than any Labor leader has ever held.
From now on the Labor chairman will be able to reserve two of the top 10 spots on the party list and one place between the 10th and 20th spots for candidates of his or her choosing, meaning that those candidates will not have to run in the party primaries.
"There is a lot of work to do. There are a lot of votes that we, together, need to bring home, together," Gabbay said.
"Our truth will win, because most of the people understands that we cannot go on with a prime minister who is tearing the people apart, who attacks law enforcement and who works for oligarchs and tycoons, not so you can make a decent living," Gabbay said.
"A prime minister who pays protection to Hamas. There are a lot of normal Israeli men and women who want [the government] to focus on them," Gabbay said.
"They understand that they need to vote for a party that opposes [Prime Minister] Netanyahu and not a party that will sit in his coalition. In a Netanyahu government, no defense minister or foreign minister is appointed. In the next three months, everyone will see us doing everything to bring the country back onto the right path."
When Gabbay took the podium, he was met with boos and jeers that continued throughout his speech. A scuffle broke out, and one party member was forcibly removed from the premises.
Cabel tore into Gabbay at the conference and called for a snap election to have him replaced as chairman.
"We are facing choice between the values of the Labor movement and a person who is threatening to bring the roof down on our heads. We won't stay silent. We wouldn't be able to forgive ourselves. It looks like we'll barely make the minimum electoral threshold for a while now. Mr. Gabbay, why are you trying to push MKs out with your reserved spots?" Cabel asked.
"We can still salvage the election. This is the time to form a front against Netanyahu. I'm calling on everyone to join hands – [former IDF chief] Gabi Ashkenazi, Tzipi Livni, and [former Prime Minister] Ehud Barak. I promise to stay here with you so this bad time can end," he said.
Labor MK Amir Peretz also spoke.
"The next few months will be critical to the historic movement that established the Jewish state and determined its values. The last few years have been bad and difficult. The right-wing governments are threatening to destroy and break down [those values]. Today, no one is accountable. The courts, and even the attorney general, are under fire," he said.
"Let's decide that we have joint custody over Israel, which was founded through blood, sweat, and tears; over strengthening the IDF; working toward peace; and revoking the nation-state law," Peretz said.
Peretz said he was appealing to former IDF Chief Benny Gantz, who recently founded his own Israel Resilience Party, and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid to share their opinions about each of those points and agree that all center-left parties would support the head of whatever party wins the most votes for prime minister.
Peretz also spoke directly to Gabbay: "I don't intend to lend my hand to splits and factionalization. I ran against you, Avi, and so I have an obligation to demonstrate what democracy is. I'll do everything I can to help you succeed in the election. I am asking you, Avi, to try and include all sub-groups in the party."
