Amir Peretz
Amir PeretzFlash 90

MK Amir Peretz (Zionist Union), who lost the race for the leadership of the Labor party to Avi Gabbay, on Thursday met with supporters in Tel Aviv.

The meeting was attended by opposition chairman Yitzhak Herzog, MKs Erel Margalit, Itzik Shmuli, Eitan Broshi, Nachman Shai and Manuel Trajtenberg, as well as Labor party Secretary Eran Hermoni, JNF chairman Danny Atar and Histadrut chairman Avi Nissenkorn.

"Democracy is not an empty word. It is also not a statement that is used only when it suits you, and the test of belief in democratic values is not when you win, but when you lose,” said Peretz.

"I call on all of us to prove that we have chosen democracy and we all stand united behind the party chairman. We will do everything to ensure the victory of the Labor party in the next elections and we await the moment when we will form another government headed by the elected party chairman, Avi Gabbay,” he continued.

Gabbay took the Labor party by storm this week, defeating Peretz in a second round of voting which took place on Monday.

A poll released on Tuesday found that Gabbay is already beginning to bypass Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid in popularity, and that the Kulanu party, headed by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, has also lost ground to Labor since Gabbay's victory.

At the same time, despite Gabbay’s victory, polls released right before he was elected found that the Likud will maintain its Knesset majority in the next election regardless of who heads Labor.