Hebrew-speakers may know the joint Labor-Hatnua list as the “Zionist Camp,” as that is how party leaders Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni present themselves.
However, the party asked to be referred to as Labor-Hatnua on Wednesday, following a report that their advertisements in Arabic do not include the word “Zionist.”
Labor-Hatnua’s advertising in Arabic calls the list “The Labor Party for Peace and Equality,” Channel 10 news reported Tuesday night.
The report came a week after Herzog said at an Institute for National Security Studies conference: “I think that the expression ‘Jewish state’ is completely misleading, in that it creates a sense that one nationality has more rights.”
When Herzog and Livni announced on December 10 they would be running together, with a rotation for the premiership should they form the next government, the phrase “Zionist Camp” was printed on a backdrop behind them and on their podiums, along with Labor-Hatnua.
Following the report on their Arabic slogan, Labor-Hatnua explained that the “Zionist Camp” is not the joint list’s official name, and they will announce one when they launch their campaign after the Labor primary next Tuesday.
A Labor-Hatnua spokesman also said that the “Labor Party for Peace and Equality” slogan was a cover for the Labor Facebook page designed before the deal with Livni.
“We are not embarrassed of our Zionism, nor of our wanting equality among all religions in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence,” the spokesman added.
Still, Bayit Yehudi and its primary candidates slammed Labor-Hatnua for ostensibly hiding its Zionism from Arab voters.
“Buji [Herzog] forgot the historic Labor Party’s Zionism. Together with Livni, he formed a party that is embarrassed by the our most basic values. [First prime minister David] Ben-Gurion is turning over in his grave,” the Bayit Yehudi spokesman said.
Deputy Education Minister Avi Wortzman said the Arabic campaign “reveals the true face of Buji and Tzipi. Both are leading the anti-Zionist camp through deceit and spreading slogans of peace.
Now we see they will lead Israel to oblivion.”
Herzog’s father, former president Chaim Herzog, would be ashamed of him, Bayit Yehudi primary candidate Danny Dayan, a former chairman of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, said.
Chaim Herzog was also the Israeli ambassador to the UN who publicly tore up the resolution defining Zionism as racism.
“Buji and Tzipi are ashamed of Zionism, so they cannot lead a Zionist party,” Dayan added. “Zionism is what brought us back to our homeland after 2,000 years. Whoever is ashamed of it must be ashamed of himself.”