103,500 registered Labor Party voters are eligible to go to the polls Monday to vote yet again for the next leader of their party.
The candidates in the election are five: Ami Ayalon, a former head of the General Security Service; former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who 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; the incumbent Labor Chairman Amir Peretz; former Interior Minister Ophir Pines-Paz; and Danny Yatom, who has served as head of the Mossad intelligence agency and the IDF Central Command.
Ayalon, a freshman Knesset Member who supports a withdrawal from all of Judea and Samaria except for undefined "settlement blocs," shows a slight lead in the polls over Barak. Significantly behind them is Peretz, Israel's Defense Minister - who has been known to come from behind in other elections and win. Pines and Yatom each have single-digit support.
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 (more than once), Ehud Barak, Amram Mitzna, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, and now Amir Peretz. In comparison, the Likud party has been headed during this period only by Binyamin Netanyahu, Ariel Sharon and Netanyahu again.
Labor to Stay in Gov't?
The main issue of the current campaign appears to be whether Labor should continue to sit in the government headed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Ayalon is strongly against, though he may not be able to do anything about it, as most of his party colleagues do not favor quitting at this time. Barak has called upon Olmert to resign, but has said he would serve as Defense Minister under Olmert - possibly in return for an agreed-upon date for new elections.
Polls in recent days show Ayalon slightly ahead of Barak. The commuter paper Yisraeli summed up several polls and came up with 35.6% for Ayalon and 32.3% for Barak. In third place is Peretz with only 14.7%. Peretz is generally acknowledged, however, to have a well-organized camp that will succeed in "getting out the vote" and increasing his showing.
If no candidate receives at least 40% of the vote, a run-off between the top two contenders will be held in two weeks. In such a case, Ayalon is heavily favored - but deals with the three losing candidates could affect the final outcome.
In other Labor Party news, Shimon Peres appears ready to announce his candidacy for President - despite his apparent desire to replace Olmert as Prime Minister. The presidential election will be held in the Knesset on July 13. Peres' 84-year-old wife Sonia was rushed to the hospital on Thursday night in serious condition, but has improved considerably.