A political party cannot rely solely on its past. People vote for a party because they appreciate its efforts, identify with its viewpoints or believe in its leaders. The Labor party is allowed to be proud of its past. It is one of the oldest political parties in the world; its roots are deep in the early 20th century and there would be no Israel without it. It deserves a great deal of admiration, even from those who don't vote for it, but this can't be the reason for supporting it now – in 2019.
For many long years, Labor was the ruling party, and it continued to act as such even when it wasn't in power. It felt the need, on multiple occasions, to join the Likud in various unity governments while ceding its uniqueness as a liberal, social-democratic movement that strives for peace. In the few times it held the premiership alone, it spearheaded initiatives that changed the face of the country and region. Whether it was the economic plan of 1985 or the establishment of the Palestinian Authority within the framework of the Oslo Accords; whether the peace agreement with Jordan or the unilateral withdrawal from south Lebanon. People supported it, people opposed it, but they knew what they were supporting and what they were opposing. Labor's fear of appearing too liberal, too dovish and too willing to pay the price for peace, turned it into just another party in the Israeli political landscape, where parties play the old children's game where you can't say "yes," "no," "black," or "white." No to peace and no to equality, no to rights for Arabs, no to giving up the West Bank, no to government intervention in the health system, education, welfare, and of course – no to raising taxes.
When all it has left is a desire to join a government and nostalgia for Ben-Gurion, Labor can't contend with all the whimsical, middle-of-the-road parties that pathetically declare there's "no Left and no Right" and present hollow, one-size-fits-all plans – until they inevitably realize that no single plan can fulfill the dreams of everyone and they fade as quickly as they appeared.
Every democracy has a liberal side and a conservative side. They can take different forms and don different masks but they will always exist. We can call it "One Israel" or "Yesh Atid" or "Zionist Union" or "Blue and White," and if the Labor party loses its mandates, while another party, in disguise, takes these mandates, it doesn't portend the end of liberalism in Israeli society. This doesn't mean the 2019 election, in which Labor won just six mandates, was a requiem for the party. It has wonderful people at the helm, and if they asked me I'd suggest establishing a faction with Meretz and incentivizing Blue and White to spearhead diplomatic and social initiatives in the spirit of the liberal camp, in order to prevent the expected right-wing government from challenging our democracy. If this faction fights for its views and doesn't try covering them up in artificial centrist wrapping, it will gain new life.
