Barak's out, so where next for Labour Party?  Three historical
ruling parties in the Middle East have taken severe beatings
over the last two months: Egypt's National Democratic Party,
Tunisia's Constitutional Democratic Party and Israel's Labour
Party.  The analogy may not be exactly apt: the two Arab parties
were pushed out of power this year by a combination of public
protests and military pressure, while the Labour Party lost
power 34 years ago in democratic elections and have managed to
return to office only sporadically ever since.  But the party of
Ben-Gurion, Eshkol, Meir, Rabin and Peres - before he defected
to Kadima - has remained the historical ruling party of a young
state, which itself would be unimaginable without old Mapai (the
Hebrew acronym of Labour's previous name - Workers Party of
Eretz Yisrael).  Was the sudden departure of party leader Ehud
Barak, along with a third of the party's MKs, two months ago,
just another milestone in Labour's inexorable decline? The final
falling of the axe?