Outgoing Labor Chairman Amir Peretz is set to join forces with Ami Ayalon when the latter faces off against Ehud Barak in the party's primaries next week. Third-place finisher Peretz is scheduled to make a speech Sunday afternoon calling on his supporters to vote for Ayalon.



Though ex-Prime Minister Barak won the first round of the Labor Party primaries last week, receiving 35% of the vote, he must face second-place finisher Ami Ayalon in a second and final round next week, because neither of them received 40% of the vote.  On the face of it, the move will bolster Ayalon's chances.



Peretz, who has announced that he will step down from the job of Defense Minister, met with Ayalon on Saturday night to discuss the details of their agreement. In return for his support, Peretz will receive this series of demands: He will receive an economic ministerial post to be carved out for him in future coalition negotiations with Kadima; his ministerial allies - Yuli Tamir and Raleb Mejadle - will remain in their positions; and the party's Central Committee will decide in the near future if and when to quit the Olmert government.



In addition, Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh and coalition whip Yoram Marciano are to remain at their posts, according to the agreement and if Ayalon defeats Barak.  It can thus be expected that if Barak wins, Tamir, Mejadle, Sneh and Marciano are likely to find themselves demoted.



Barak May Gain

Though Barak supporters, too had sought, Peretz's support to some extent, some feel that the Peretz-Ayalon alliance will not necessarily increase Ayalon's electoral standing, as their voters come from different camps and backgrounds. Barak and his team of advisors are already preparing a counter-offensive terming the new alliance a "stinking deal" - a term used to describe the dark side of Israeli politics. Billboards have been ordered, reading, "Voted for Ayalon? You got Peretz!"



In addition, it is far from clear that Peretz, who received 22% of the vote in last week's first round, will be able to determine his voters' choices in the second round.  Polls checking the matter showed conflicting results.



The agreement between Ayalon and Peretz was not written, but was rather agreed upon orally.

Background

Ami Ayalon, a former head of the General Security Service, is a freshman MK.  He supports a withdrawal from all of Judea and Samaria except for undefined "settlement blocs."  Former PM Barak left politics and became a private businessman nearly six years ago (and now has business interests in Jordan) after losing a national election to Ariel Sharon.



Chairmanship of the Labor Party has changed hands many times in the past years. Following Yitzchak Rabin's assassination in 1995, the post has shifted between the following party leaders: Shimon Peres (three times), Barak, Amram Mitzna, Ben-Eliezer, and Amir Peretz. In comparison, the Likud party has been headed during this period only by Binyamin Netanyahu, Ariel Sharon and Netanyahu again.



Labor's Ben-Eliezer Backs Barak

Cabinet Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a former Labor Chairman and ex-Defense Minister, supports Barak: "The question is who can beat Bibi [Likud chief Binyamin Netanyahu] in the next national election, and who would you rather have as Defense Minister right now?" Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal agrees.



On the other hand, MK Chaim Ramon - fresh off his public service sentence for sexual harassment of a woman soldier - supports Ayalon, largely because of his long-standing political feuding with Barak.



Meanwhile, Defense Minister Peretz has become involved in another political controversy. Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman charges that his visit in Gaza, scheduled for today, was canceled by Peretz. Lieberman staffers say the visit was called off in revenge for Lieberman's criticism of Peretz's weak anti-Kassam policies in northern Gaza. Peretz aides, on the other hand, say the visit was postponed only because Vice Premier Shimon Peres was visiting there the same day.