Who's afraid of Amir Perez?

(From Israel Business Arena)

Byline: Stella Korin-Lieber

1. Amir Perez, the newly elected chairman of the Labor Party, is both refreshing and frightening.

It's refreshing to see a new face, after years of glassy-eyed, tired, and apathetic politicians. It's frightening to see a man so pleased with himself, so confident in his proclamations, convinced that he, and only he, possesses the entire truth. His supporters say that he's so zealous that he sometimes seems conceited.

If Perez becomes prime minister, does a competitive economy, the declared objective of the Israeli economy in recent years, have a chance? It probably does. What will happen to Perez in economics is what happened to Sharon in dealing with the Palestinians - what they see when they reach the top isn't what they saw before they got there.

One thing he certainly won't give up setting a minimum wage of $1,000 per month. The rest is rather fluid. What is morality? It's a CEO who earns 100 times what his workers earn looking them in the eye, without a cigar in his mouth, he told "Globes".

2. There's nothing to fear, his circle says. He won't be against businesspeople; he's going to dine out with them. He understands them. He'll cooperate with those who will cooperate in the social-moral revolution. That's what his people said when he won the primary, perhaps out of concern at the stock market's response, although the response wasn't exactly keeping them awake at nights.