Only 50 percent of the Labor Party's registered voters had cast their ballots for the party's next chairman with half an hour left to go at the polls on primary election day on Monday.
Palestinian Authority terrorists in Gaza also made their opinions known; 13 Kassam rockets had been fired at western Negev communities -- most directed at Sderot -- by evening.
The primaries began with a bang as the Color Red alert siren wailed into the Sderot morning. Labor Party Chairman and Defense Minister Amir Peretz was hustled into a shelter bare moments after voting for himself in his rocket-battered hometown. Within seconds, three Kassam rockets slammed into the town, leaving one man with light injuries, several people in shock and a building damaged.
The defense minister appeared unfazed by the attack and hurried to the scene, where he tried to calm the residents while at the same time urging them to vote for him in order to help stop the attacks.
Mr. Peretz has said previously that he will leave the Defense Ministry if he wins the election.
The party leadership is hoping Monday’s primary will bring a conclusive end to the battle for the chairman’s seat, but no one will be surprised if a run-off is needed to reach a final decision.
Of the five candidates running for the top spot, two are running neck-and-neck in their race to victory: former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and former director of the General Security Services (Shin Bet), freshman Knesset Member Ami Ayalon.
Defense Minister Peretz is trailing well behind the two frontrunners, as are MKs Danny Yatom and Ophir Pines-Paz behind him. None of the three are expected to make it past the first round of voting, and neither MKs Barak or Ayalon is expected to garner more than 40 percent of the vote. This makes it likely that voting will go to a runoff election, two weeks from now.
Mr. Barak was responsible for the IDF pullout from southern Lebanon in 2000, after which the Hizbullah terrorist organization recouped its losses, rearmed and built deep underground bunkers in preparation for the next war. Last summer, the terror group ignited that war by kidnapping IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in coordination with a Katyusha rocket attack on northern Israel. The whereabouts and condition of the two soldiers are still unknown.
Political commentators have noted that the former prime minister has conducted a campaign of silence, similar to that in 1999 when he refused to debate Binyamin Netanyahu before the general elections. Mr. Barak has refused to grant interviews to the media during his current campaign, and instead has focused his efforts on parlor meetings, particularly in kibbutzim, a sector seen as a support base for Barak's solid competitor Ayalon.
Mr. Ayalon has been, in contrast, open about his intentions, namely, that the party should work to topple Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Labor should refuse to take part in a government led by Ehud Olmert, said Mr. Ayalon, but should work towards establishing a “national rehabilitation government” instead.
The “rehabilitation government” would include as many Kadima party members as are ready to see the prime minister step down, according to MK Ayalon. Sources in Labor explained that MK Ayalon has not changed his stance against sitting in a government led by Mr. Olmert, but that he wishes to avoid new elections in order to maintain the current coalition, in which leftist parties are dominant.
Voter turnout was expected to be higher than previous primaries in which some 60 - 65 percent of party members voted. The low turnout surprised and concerned candidates who are worried about the prospect of having to face a runoff election.