Israel's Leaderless Labor Party Votes for New Chief
A former defense minister, a one-time TV journalist, an ex-mayor and a scion of one of Israel's top political families faced off on Monday in a fight for the leadership of the Labor party.
The once-mighty party, now reduced to eight seats in the 120-member parliament, has been without a chairman since Defense Minister Ehud Barak jumped ship in January to form the centrist "Independence" movement.
A Labor party statement said that polls across the country opened on schedule at 10:00 am (07:00 GMT) and would remain open for 12 hours. Results are expected at around midnight (21:00 GMT).
The 66,310 Labor members eligible to vote in the primary will choose between Shelly Yacimovich, Amir Peretz, Isaac Herzog and Amram Mitzna. Peretz, 59, and Yacimovich, 51, are deemed to be the front-runners.
If none of the candidates wins 40 percent of the poll, a second round of elections will be held on September 21.
"Let's win in the first round," Yacimovich said in a statement ahead of the vote. "We are strong in the field, in organization, in spirit and in the polls -- but complacency is a dangerous enemy."
Whoever is first past the post is unlikely to be fighting a general election anytime soon. The next parliamentary poll is scheduled in 2013 and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rightwing coalition is considered stable, with command of 66 parliamentary seats.
Formerly a leading journalist and television presenter who was elected to parliament in 2006 under Peretz's patronage, Yacimovich has been enjoying the support of the Israeli media in this race, praised for her clear social agenda and hailed as the faltering Labor party's last hope.
Peretz, who once headed Israel's Histadrut trades union federation, was defense minister during the 2006 Lebanon War which claimed the lives of 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, and was widely considered a failure by Israelis.
He gave up the portfolio the following year, after losing to Barak in a party leadership battle.
Herzog, who has held several cabinet posts, is the son of Israel's sixth president Haim Herzog, and his aunt was married to noted Israeli diplomat and statesman Abba Eban.
While many deem him a talented administrator, many also consider that he lacks the charisma needed to lead the party's rehabilitation.
"I predict a close battle that won't be determined in the first round," Herzog said in an announcement on Sunday. "I will be the surprise of this vote."
Mitzna, a retired general, has served as mayor both of the northern port city of Haifa and the gritty southern town of Yeroham.
He won the November 2002 Labor leadership contest but quit the job six months later after taking his party to what was then its worst defeat since the country was founded in 1948, ending up with just 19 parliamentary seats.
Source: Agence France Presse
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