MK Ben Simon urges Labor rebels: Don't split off yet

Labor MK Daniel Ben Simon on Sunday urged rebel party members to give party chairman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak "one more chance" before splitting off into their own faction.

Ben Simon, who announced his resignation as Labor faction chairman in late October after only five months in the post, took part in a meeting led by the party rebels in Tel Aviv.

The rebels have been trying to recruit Ben Simon to join their efforts to create a new party, as he would give them the quorum needed for such a move. Initially, it was not clear whether Ben Simon would even come to the meeting on Sunday.

Once there, however, he asked the four rebels to give the party another two months before making a final decision on their future.

"I came here to find an antidote for the fighting in this party," he said.

Hundreds of Labor activists join the rebels at their meeting, including MKs Ophir Pines Paz, Amir Peretz, Yuli Tamir and Eitain Cabel. A number of spiritual leaders and academics were also invited to the meeting.

"A message? we will create an alternative concept to replace the lack of discussion we currently have in Labor. Everything will be open from now on," MK Cabel said prior to the meeting.

Ben Simon said at the time of his resignation that he was not joining the four Labor "rebels" at this point. However, he no longer saw himself bound to coalition discipline and would act as a one-man faction, he said.

The former Haaretz journalist blasted Barak's policies at a news conference following the declaration, saying, "the man heading Labor is responsible for the [West Bank] outposts and I cannot accept that."

Labor failed to achieve its goals vis-a-vis the peace process and "should not be in the coalition," he said.

Ben Simon held several meetings with Barak prior to his decision regarding his strong objections to the continuation of West Bank settlement construction.

	Labor MK Daniel Ben Simon attending a meeting held by the party's rebel MKs in Tel Aviv on Sunday.
	Photo by: (Alon Ron)