BICOM

The race to become the new leader of the Israeli Labour party is heating up, with former leader of the party Amram Mitzna to announce his candidacy today. Mitzna led the party in the 2003 elections, but lost heavily to Likud under the leadership of Ariel Sharon, after which he left national politics. Mitzna remains a highly respected public figure however. He has a prestigious military career and holds the rank of Major General in the IDF reserves. He also distinguished himself in local government, as the mayor of Haifa, and more recently, stepping in as the government appointed mayor in the development town of Yerucham, after its elected council was dismissed for financial mismanagement. According to a weekend poll in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Labour would secure 17 seats in the 120 seat Knesset if led by Mitzna, considerably more than under any other candidate. The other candidates include another former leader of the party, Amir Peretz, former social welfare minister Isaac Herzog, Knesset Member and former TV journalist Shelly Yachimovitch, and businessman Erel Margalit.