Facing an Empty Victory

Leadership battles in Israel's Labor Party have traditionally been heavyweight bouts between names known across the world. For years, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres sparred. Then, Israel's most decorated soldier, Ehud Barak, stepped with much anticipation into the ring. But if next week's Labor leadership election were a boxing match, the promoters would have a hard time selling tickets. In the battle between Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the Defense Minister, and Knesset speaker Avraham Burg, neither has created much excitement about his candidacy. Yet the election could have big implications not just for the way Israel handles the intifadeh, but also for the...