Itzik Shmuli
Itzik ShmuliHezki Baruch

MK Itzik Shmuli officially announced on Wednesday evening that he would run for the leadership of the Labor Party.

"It's time to take the reins. It's time for a connecting leadership that looks at the public in the eye and makes them believe again," said Shmuli.

He added that "it is our time to restore the trust of many that we have lost along the way, to form new partnerships and to break the boundaries of the camp together, in order to increase the chances of change. I am running for the Labor leadership and will lead it to a new and hopeful chapter."

With the announcement, Shmuli joins MKs Amir Peretz and Stav Shafir, who have also announced they will run for the chairmanship of the Labor Party.

Other possible candidates include former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who has reportedly decided against establishing a new party, former MK and former head of the Mossad Danny Yatom and Major General (res.) Yair Golan, a former IDF Deputy Chief of Staff.

Labor Party chairman MK Avi Gabbay on Tuesday announced that he would not run for the party's leadership in the upcoming elections. On Wednesday, he announced that he would be stepping down from politics altogether.

Gabbay has come under fire by Labor members following the party’s poor showing in the last elections, when it won just 6 Knesset seats - an all-time low.

He was also criticized after it was revealed that he held coalition talks with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu despite vowing during the election campaign that he would not be a part of Netanyahu’s coalition.