Three weeks after winning the Labor Party primaries to become the party’s new Chairman and wresting the Defense portfolio from former Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz, Ehud Barak says he hopes to become the country’s next Prime Minister.



At the Labor Central Committee gathering Sunday night, Barak reiterated his pre-primary pledge to the central committee members that he would pull the party out of the government coalition if Kadima Prime Minister Ehud Olmert does not resign following the publication of the final Winograd Report.



Barak took control at the Labor Central Committee by securing his position as the party’s candidate for Prime Minister in the next elections. The vote by the central committee eliminates the need for a primary election by the rank and file membership.



Knesset Member and former primary candidate for the party’s chairmanship, Ophir Pines-Paz sponsored the motion, who told reporters, “We chose Barak. Let’s give him a genuine opportunity to lead the party.”



The Winograd Commission was tasked with conducting the probe into the government’s performance during the Second Lebanon War. The commission's interim report, published three months ago, harshly criticized Prime Minister Olmert, then-Defense Minister Amir Peretz, and then-IDF Chief of General Staff, Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz. Halutz resigned before the interim report was released and after an internal army investigation held him responsible for much of the mismanagement of the war by the IDF top brass. Peretz lost the Labor Party chairmanship last month to Barak.



Barak also decided to replace current Deputy Defense Minister Ephriam Sneh with MK Matan Vilnai, despite the fact that Sneh served previously as Deputy Defense Minister in the former Barak government.



Sneh also served as Deputy Defense Minister to the recently-ousted Amir Peretz, and the message Sunday night was clear: a new party leadership – and the future hopes of a new government leadership -- are in the making.