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Former Justice Minister Haim Ramon spoke out against the proposed ceasefire-prisoner swap deal, saying that it is "the worst deal" that Israel could possibly agree to. In an interview with 103 FM Radio, Ramon said, "The deal proposed today is the worst of all worlds. In practice, we will end the war. Anyone who thinks that after 42 days, by pressing a button, we will restart the war - is making a mistake. People will return to the Gaza border area, to the north, and it will be very hard to continue the war." "Because it is this way, and...

Mar. 14, 2003 Dramatic night at Labor Party central committee meet By TOVAH LAZAROFF AND HILARY LEILA KRIEGER Advertisement An evening that began with victory for Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna ended with calls for his resignation after many of his supporters Thursday had left the central committee meeting in Tel Aviv. Labor whip Dalia Itzik called for early party leadership elections within three to four month instead of waiting for next year. The problems started following a show of support, 78 to 46, for a proposal by MK Ephraim Sneh to change the party's political platform to follow the...

Mar. 13, 2003 Labor Party meeting to discuss its future By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF The Labor Party central committee is meeting at this hour at Tel-Aviv's exhibition grounds to discuss the party's poor showing in the recent general elections. The meeting is the central committee's first since the elections, and takes place amongst rising tensions between party boss Amram Mitzna and Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. Right at the outset of the meeting, party boss Amram Mitzna said he had no plans to resign, and would lead the party to victory. Mitzna added that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would gain the...

Mar. 11, 2003 Mitzna: No way to protect lives of Hebron residents By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF Labor Party Chairman Amram Mitzna said Monday that there is no way to defend the lives of the residents and soldiers in Hebron. According to Mitzna, the public has to know that there are no real, professional or military ways to protect the population of Hebron and the soldiers that are in the divided West Bank town to protect them Mitzna's comments come a day after a soldier was killed in Hebron and the Friday night attack that killed a couple in...

Feb. 27, 2003 Mitzna: We will be a responsible, firmly committed opposition By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF Labor Chairman and opposition leader Amram Mitzna on Thursday criticized the projected political and economic policies to guide Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new government, as they were reflected in the latter's earlier inauguration speech, saying the opposition under his leadership would be a "responsible, firmly committed" one. In a speech before the Knesset, Mitzna said a coalition comprising the three large parties the Likud, Shinui and Labor was within Sharon's grasp, but he decided not to pursue it. He criticized Shinui's chairman,...

Feb. 24, 2003 Labor MKs say they are sick of Mitzna By GIL HOFFMAN Advertisement After only three months on the job, Labor Party Chairman Amram Mitzna has already overstayed his welcome and many Labor MKs cannot wait for his ouster, senior party officials said, following a Labor faction meeting on Monday that erupted into a shouting match for the second day in a row. While Sunday's meeting was stormy from the start, Labor MKs talked peacefully for two hours on Monday, before Mitzna began insulting the MKs and blaming them for the party's downfall. Mitzna's erstwhile rival, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer,...

Feb. 23, 2003 Editorial: Does Labor realize it lost? Despite the solid thrashing it received at the ballot box last month, the Labor Party continues to act as if it were not aware of the election results. Though he controls just 19 seats in the Knesset, compared to the 40 in the hands of the Likud, Amram Mitzna is nevertheless trying to compel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to adopt Labor's platform if he and his colleagues are to acquiesce in joining the new government. When the initial results came in on the night of the January 28 election, Mitzna ascended...

Analysis / Sharon in the center, with Shinui on the left and settlers on the right By Yossi Verter On Saturday, before the Sabbath was over, Ariel Sharon made his decision. He ordered his loyalist, Uri Shani, to close the deal with the National Religious Party and shower it with goodies: two ministers, a deputy minister, chairman of a committee and deputy speaker of the Knesset. The prime minister only forgot to tell Amram Mitzna. Yesterday morning, five hours after the media was reporting the sealed deal with the NRP, Sharon called Mitzna and ended their brief affair. Sharon knows...

Feb. 12, 2003 Likud: Sharon to meet Mitzna again over national union government By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF Officials in the Likud on Wednesday said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is set to schedule another round of talks with Labor chairman Amram Mitzna to try and persuade him that a national union government including the two parties can be feasibly established. In other developments, Sharon has instructed the Likud's coalitionary negotiation team to keep the Foreign Affairs, Defense, Finance, Education, Law, Interior and Internal Security portfolios in the hands of Likud legislators in any coalition arrangement reached, the officials said....

Feb. 11, 2003 Mitzna: in my opinion no missiles will be fired at Israel By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFFLabor party head Amram Mitzna said that according to his reading of the situation, no missiles would be fired at Israel during a possible US-led strike on Iraq. Mitzna was talking on Channel One's 'Politika' program. Mitzna added that that the chances of Israel coming under missile attack was slim, but that he still advises Israel to prepare for the possibility.

Sharon, Mitzna, And Lapid - All Disagree After Ariel Sharon met with Labor head Amram Mitzna this morning, it appears that a unity government with Labor is less and less likely. Sharon did not succeed in convincing Mitzna to join the coalition, though the latter said afterwards hat he would support the government on issues that "are in the national interest." Mitzna also said that "contrary to Sharon's public statements, what he told me leaves absolutely no room for us to join his government." Sharon was reported to have told Mitzna that "Netzarim [in Gaza] has strategic value, and Hevron...

Feb. 3, 2003 Labor Party: Sharon rejected giving up a single settlement (UPDATE) At their meeting today Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna he would not remove a single settlement in the Gaza Strip, and under such conditions Labor cannot join a governmnent, Labor's secretary-general Ofir Pines-Paz said. Pines told reporters after his meeting today with President Moshe Katsav that he had recommended against naming Sharon as prime minister, although he realized the election results suggested he was the key choice. He said that Sharon did not suggest any willingness to "make any dramatic change in...

Sharon reports to Mitzna on secret talks with Palestinians By GIL HOFFMAN Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reported to Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna today about secret contacts being held with moderate Palestinians with the aim of quickly resuming peace talks once a new government is formed. But Mitzna flatly rejected Sharon's appeal for Labor to join his new ruling coalition as part of a unity government. Mitzna's aides said after the two met for two hours at the Prime Minister's Office that Sharon presented "more extremist views than Likud espoused in the campaign and did not leave an opening for...

Sharon to offer Labor either treasury or foreign portfolio By Yossi Verter, Ha'aretz CorrespondentPrime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet Labor Party Chairman Amram Mitzna on Monday to ask him to join his government. Sharon will offer the party either the finance or foreign portfolio, according to senior Likud sources. On Friday, Sharon met Shinui leader Yosef Lapid, and the two agreed to set up coalition negotiation teams. MK Shimon Peres, who supports entering into coalition negotiations with the Likud, denied Saturday that he was secretly negotiating, directly or indirectly, with Sharon. Although the chances of Labor's joining the government are...

Friday, January 31, 2003 Shvat 28, 5763 Israel Time: 21:05 (GMT+2) PM rebuffs rumors he will offer defense portfolio to Labor By Aluf Benn and Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and AgenciesPrime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday afternoon that rumors he was going to offer Labor the defense portfolio as part of a deal to lure them into the coalition were false. According to Sharon, the issue is not open for discussion, since current defense minister Shaul Mofaz will continue at his post in the 16th Knesset. "Mofaz is a great defense minister... and will continue to be defense...

Discordance In Bid For Unity Official coalition negotiations will begin only after President Moshe Katzav officially charges Ariel Sharon with forming the next government. In the meantime, Sharon's plan to form a broad-based government continues to face difficulties. He is not concerned, however. "Nothing in my life has been easy," he said. The leaders of the second and third largest parties - Amram Mitzna of Labor and Tommy Lapid of anti-hareidi Shinui - met today, but neither convinced the other to accept his position. Lapid tried to persuade Mitzna to agree to enter a unity government, while the latter wants...

Jan. 30, 2003Mitzna rejects Shinui appeal to join ranks in a Sharon gov't By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFFLabor Party leader Amram Mitzna today rejected a proposal from Shinui head Yosef Lapid to join ranks in a Likud-led government. In their first meeting after Tuesday's election, Lapid, now the head of Israel's third largest party, suggested that Mitzna bend on his refusal to join a government under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and present him with a list of demands for a partnership. Mitzna stood fast to his refusal to join a government with Sharon, and asked Lapid to join him...

Israel's new Labour leader a dove Former general would pull Israel out of Gaza Strip, most of territories if he becomes PM By PAUL ADAMS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Advertisement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, November 20, 2002 – Page A11 TEL AVIV -- Dovish former army general Amram Mitzna, who has vowed to pull Israel out of the Palestinian territories if he becomes prime minister, won a decisive victory yesterday in the race to lead Israel's Labour Party. Mr. Mitzna easily beat his closest rival, incumbent Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. An unofficial count put Mr. Mitzna at 54 per cent and Mr. Ben-Eliezer at 37 per cent....

08/19/2002 Israel's Most Dangerous Politician by Steven Plaut Arutz Sheva August 18, 2002 The world's media is suddenly all ecstatic at the fact that Generalissimo Amram Mitzna has decided to toss his kafiya into the race for Labor Party chief. Because Mitzna is to the left of the current party chief, ‘Fuad’ Ben-Eliezer, and indeed is to the left of Shimon Peres and Yossi Beilin, the Jewish anti-survivalist Left is celebrating, and the world's anti-Jewish media has discovered a new great messiah of hope and peace. If Mitzna takes the Labor chiefdom and then gets elected prime minister, or so...

Labour dove shakes up Israeli politics By Harvey Morris in Tel Aviv Published: August 13 2002 17:38 | Last Updated: August 13 2002 17:38 Amram Mitzna (pictured) , a former career soldier and current Labour mayor of Haifa, on Tuesday launched a bid for the Israeli premiership after a lightning campaign that has galvanised Israeli politics.The declaration by the dovish 57-year-old reserve major-general that he is standing for the Labour leadership poses a serious challenge to the incumbent, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, and ultimately to Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, who Mr Mitzna on Tuesday said was "leading the state of...