It's been all of eight days since Amir Peretz won the Labor primaries by the not-so-dazzling margin of 1,500 votes, and he's has already taken the political establishment by storm  or hurricane, or better yet, tsunami crushing or dragging along anyone or anything standing in his way.

Of all the great and distinguished politicians this country has known, Peretz has proven himself to be a Speedy Gonzales in slipping on those leadership shoes. To top it all, he's got people swooning over his technique and his no-nonsense approach.

In our neck of the woods, we have often stood in awe of how quickly elections are called in England, usually at the initiative of the prime minister trying to regain public confidence. While we haven't reached that degree of
in

	Advertisement

instantaneous elections, what Peretz has managed to do in a week, reshuffling the whole political deck, comes very close. In one fell swoop, he has grabbed the reins of his party, forced it into election mode, and made Ariel Sharon
bow to his demand to set a date for general elections within the next three months.

Knowing the type of merchandise he's got at home, Peretz has done something we haven't seen yet in this neighborhood: All the Labor ministers in the government were asked to hand over signed letters of resignation with the date left blank. Where he picked up that gimmick, God only knows. Was it an instinct, or did he hear that former U.S. president Jimmy Carter asked for post-dated letters of resignation from all the government secretaries when he
took office?

This letter business was actually an act of leadership of the highest degree.

With one move, Peretz handcuffed his ministers, conveyed the message to Sharon that Labor is not playing games, and transformed Sharon from leader into lackey. Sharon, caught in a vise, will have to choose between surrendering to
the rebels or clashing with them.

At the end of the day, Peretz has created a situation in which the rebels will either do as Sharon says  or say goodbye to their seats in the Knesset. Yet again, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Mr. Panic, will have to shelve his race against Sharon in the primaries.

Peretz has made his goals clear in no time. He is not preparing himself to stand tough in the opposition or accept a cushy job in a unity government as "deputy prime minister." He is aiming for the top. But his giddy joy at
winning is not enough. He needs to hire a staff of advisors and put together an orderly work plan. And one of the things he needs to watch out for is that the social equality emblazoned on his banner does not send the rich to the poorhouse and scare away entrepreneurs and investors.

On the political ticket, the gap between Sharon and Peretz is not great. Both will do as the Americans say, but with one difference: Sharon has his hands tied by the rebels and extremists when it comes to the "painful concessions"
required in the West Bank.

The anti-Mapai slogan, "We're sick of corruption," has come back to haunt us of late. There is a sense of disgust at the vice that has flourished under the Likud, at the generals who have grabbed the reins, at the dolce vita of the leadership. Omri Sharon's conviction comes at a bad time for the prime minister. People are perfectly justified in asking how come Dad didn't know that Junior was bringing home the bacon, and if he did know, why is boy being sacrificed for his sins.

The rebels' ultimatums and Netanyahu's subversive activity against Sharon have added to the sense that the days of the Likud are drawing to an end, much like the Labor party in 1977. Shimon Peres never dreamed of going to early
elections. But if he had, Labor under his leadership would have lost. The difference between Sharon and Peretz is not only their age, but the fact that Peretz is hungry and has one goal. He is out to win, and in a big way. So it
was important to him to prove from the very first week that he's the boss.

"I'll navigate," Yitzhak Rabin used to say. Peretz is putting that slogan into practice.

To win the whole pot, Labor needs another 10 seats, and that means the Likud has to lose them. It's not as easy as it sounds. We're talking about raking in a quarter of a million votes. Peretz's advantage over Sharon is that the prime minister will be restricted, for security reasons, to television appearances, while Peretz, king of the masses, will hit the road until not a person is left
who hasn't had his back personally slapped.

Peretz has not made any serious mistakes yet. And he's go something there. If you're going do, it, do it quickly, and go for broke.