JERUSALEM (JTA) \u2014 Labor Party chairman Amir Peretz has given a whole new meaning to the expression \u201cRead my lips.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peretz sacrificed the mustache that he has sported in various stages of bushiness for the past 47 years to make a point about a future unity government.<\/p>\n
\u201cI decided to remove my mustache so that all of Israel will understand exactly what I\u2019m saying and will be able to read my lips: I won\u2019t sit with Bibi,\u201d Peretz said in an interview Sunday night on Israel\u2019s Channel 12, rejecting the possibility that his Labor-Gesher union would join a government led by Benjamin Netanyahu.
\nSome pundits suggested that Peretz pulled the stunt in order to get more air time and revive his party\u2019s sagging campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end, no one will remember anything about Peretz\u2019s attempt to stifle rumors of a deal with Netanyahu, save for him sacrificing his mustache on the altar of his own irrelevance,\u201d Einav Schiff wrote in Ynet, calling the interview \u201cone of the saddest things seen on the small screen in recent years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The once-dominant Labor Party is expected to barely pass the electoral threshold that would allow it a seat in the Knesset. The Labor-Gesher union is polling at four to five seats with three weeks to go before the national election.<\/p>\n
Peretz said his upper lip will remain hairless until after the Sept. 17 vote.<\/p>\n
Fun fact: Peretz trimmed his mustache for the first time in 2002 when the country\u2019s Association for the Deaf contacted the veteran Knesset member to tell him that its members could not understand him because they could not see his lips.<\/p>\n
\nA tribute to Amir Peretz\u2019s mustache. @AmySpiro<\/a>, if you need a shoulder to cry on, I\u2019m here for you. pic.twitter.com\/CfP9wFD2cD<\/a><\/p>\n
— Lahav Harkov \ud83c\udf97\ufe0f (@LahavHarkov) August 25, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n