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A6 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 3 February 2021
Israel’s Labor party looks to new leader for revival

By TIA GOLDENBERG options in the center-left
Associated Press emerged and much of
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Last the electorate appears to
week, Israel’s Labor party have embraced Netanya-
appeared headed for ex- hu’s hard-line ideology.
tinction, with polls indicat- Michaeli took over Labor
ing it wouldn’t win enough after a trying year when it
votes in upcoming elec- entered parliament with
tions to enter parliament. historically low support.
But following the election The party was torn apart af-
of progressive lawmaker ter its former leader joined
Merav Michaeli as its new Netanyahu’s government
leader, the party is showing despite pledges not to,
signs of life. driving away lifelong voters.
Labor, home of the coun- Michaeli chose to remain
try’s founding leaders and in the opposition and says
for decades its ruling party, she will never sit in a coali-
has begun to climb in opin- tion under Netanyahu for
ion polls, and Michaeli is a slew of reasons, among
determined to once again them his three corruption
make it a major force in Is- indictments.
raeli politics. She shuns marriage, al-
Michaeli, a firebrand femi- though she is in a long-term
nist, promotes a message New Labor party leader Merav Michaeli gives a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. relationship with a popu-
that has rarely been heard 1, 2021. Associated Press lar late-night TV host, and
in Israeli politics in recent says she has never wanted
years. She seeks social jus- essential for Israel’s future.” coming days if, as expect- most evident today in its children in a society sprung
tice, equality for all Israelis Her election appears to ed, smaller parties with little universal health care, espe- from the biblical com-
and peace with the Pales- have given Labor a jolt of chance of making it into cially amid the pandemic. mandment to procreate.
tinians. Yet she also won’t momentum. But with many parliament withdraw from Although it led Israel during She is known for her signa-
rule out sitting in a coalition traditional voters having the race ahead of a Thurs- the 1967 Mideast war and ture all black looks, which
with right-wing parties, like- left the party, she has her day deadline. Although the built the first settlements in she has said are meant to
ly hindering her agenda, work cut out for her ahead projections are far below the occupied West Bank, downplay her body and
if that realizes the shared of March elections. Israel’s Labor’s glory days, even Labor later signed the land- sexuality.
goal of ousting Prime Minis- center-left camp is frac- a modest showing could mark Oslo peace accords When she withdrew to the
ter Benjamin Netanyahu. tured and right-wing par- make Michaeli a kingmak- with the Palestinians and opposition, she promised:
“You can disagree with ties, led by Netanyahu’s er in a coalition of midsize today favors a two-state “We won’t let the Labor
me ideologically but what Likud, remain dominant. parties opposed to Netan- solution with the Palestin- party die.”
is clear is that I am here Opinion polls in recent days yahu. ians. Now at the helm, she will be
and I fight for equality and have projected that Labor Labor guided Israel to inde- Yet it has struggled to re- tested on whether she can
peace,” Michaeli told The under Michaeli will win five pendence in 1948 and led main relevant over the past fulfill that pledge and stabi-
Associated Press in a tele- seats in Israel’s 120-seat the country for its first three two decades as peace- lize a party that has had six
phone interview. “I believe Knesset. decades, embedding so- making with the Palestin- leaders since Netanyahu
that Labor is not dead, it is That could jump in the cial democratic values ians ground to a halt, other took power in 2009.q

Hip-hop T-shirt sets off more tensions in China-Canada ties

BEIJING (AP) — China says a staff member from the when cases were first re- effort to stifle the nation’s she has been subjected
it has lodged a formal Canadian Embassy had ported in Wuhan. global economic expan- to abuse of process and
complaint with Canada ordered T-shirts with a bat The T-shirts were reportedly sion. Her lawyers argue should be freed.q
over T-shirts ordered by print. That appeared to ref- ordered last summer and it
one of the country’s Beijing erence allegations that the wasn’t clear if any were still
Embassy staff that alleg- virus developed in China in circulation.
edly mocked China’s re- from bats and then spread The controversy under-
sponse to the coronavirus to humans in the city of scores the plunge in rela-
outbreak, in an apparent Wuhan, where infections tions between the coun-
mix-up between the city were first reported in late tries in the past two years
of Wuhan and the hip-hop 2019. But Canadian media over China’s demand that
group Wu-Tang Clan. reports said the logo was a Canada release a top ex-
Foreign Ministry spokes- W in homage to the New ecutive of communica-
person Wang Wenbin told York hip-hop group the tions giant Huawei who is
reporters Tuesday that Wu-Tang Clan and that Ot- wanted on fraud charges
China called on Canada tawa had apologized for in the United States.
to “thoroughly investigate any misunderstanding. Meng Wanzhou, who is
the incident and give Chi- China’s government is ex- also the daughter of the
na a clear explanation.” tremely sensitive to accu- company’s founder, de- In this Nov. 12, 2018, file photo, flags of Canada and China
The incident arose after sations it was the source of nies the charges. China are placed for the first China-Canada economic and financial
a T-shirt maker posted on the pandemic and failed says her case is politically strategy dialogue in Beijing, China.
the Chinese internet that to respond quickly enough motivated as part of a U.S. Associated Press