Labor Decides to Add Russian to List of Knesset Candidates

Israel’s Labor Party has decided to include a Russian immigrant in its list of Knesset candidates for the May 29 elections.

The decision Sunday by the party’s Central Committee came after polls indicated that the lack of a Russian immigrant on the list would seriously damage the party’s prospects of attracting voters from the former Soviet Union.

Voting for the Russian candidate will take place among Labor’s 17,000 registered immigrant-voters later this week.

Prime Minister Shimon Peres has indicated his own preference, Ashkelon City Councilwoman Sophia Landwer, who served in the past as his Russian-language tutor.

Labor leaders resolved to include a Russian candidate after Ethiopian activist Adisu Massala won in the March 25 Labor Party primaries the position on the list that had been reserved for an immigrant representative.

The decision to include a Russian representative came despite Massala’s protestations both before and after his primary victory that he would regard himself as the voice of all immigrants, regardless of their origin.

Massala’s position on the list will not be affected by the inclusion of a Russian immigrant; in effect, Labor will have two immigrant representatives on its list of “safe seats” — positions on the party list expected to win seats in the next Knesset.

Meanwhile, in another move to placate ruffled feathers after the primaries, Foreign Minister Ehud Barak and his top ministry officials convened last Friday to announce the appointment of Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Ora Namir as Israel’s new ambassador to China.

The appointment will take effect after the elections.

Namir, who is aborad, was defeated in the primaries for the top woman’s spot on the Labor list by Knesset member Dalia Itzik, chairwoman of the Education Committee in the outgoing Knesset.