Defense Minister Amir Peretz has lost his chance to retain his leadership of the Labor Party after former Prime Minister Ehud Barak won the most votes in Monday's primary election for the chairmanship. The victory was not complete however, since none of the candidates managed to garner the 40 percent win required to prevent a runoff election.
A second round of voting will therefore be held on June 12th in a runoff between Mr. Barak and former General Security Services (Shin Bet) chief Ami Ayalon.
The race ran as a dead heat between the two men for most of Monday's election day, and it was not until the wee hours of Tuesday morning that the results became clear.
Mr. Barak edged out his closest competitor by a mere 5 percent; the final tally showed the former PM winning 35.6 percent, Mr. Ayalon with 30.6 percent.
DM Peretz was left far behind in the race, finishing with 22.4 percent of the votes. The other two contenders, Knesset Members Ophir Pines-Paz and Danny Yatom, trailed with 8 percent and 2.7 percent respectively.
Mr. Peretz took a philosophical stance on his loss, saying he still had enough support within the ranks to influence some of its moves. He is meeting with former PM Barak Tuesday morning to discuss the runoff.