BICOM

Israel Labour Party leader Shelly Yachimovich, who is also Leader of the Opposition, yesterday announced her intention to hold leadership primaries on 14 November.

According to the Labour Party constitution, should the party fail to win a general election its chairperson must hold primaries within 14 months. Yachimovich’s request for a November vote ahead of the March deadline must be approved by the party’s 1,800-member convention.

It is widely thought that Yachimovich is keen to hold an early vote to throw her rivals off guard. Party regulations state that new party members are only permitted to vote in primaries after six months of membership and so a November poll would effectively stymie a recruitment drive by her rivals. Isaac Herzog MK, who is the party’s current number two and fellow MKs Eitan Cabel and Erel Margalit are expected to stand against Yachimovich. In addition, former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and former Military Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin are also thought to be considering their candidacies. A new leader would be the party’s seventh in twelve years.

During her announcement yesterday, Yachimovich said “At the end of these primaries we will leave the internal competition behind us and carry on, united, down the long path ahead. We have a lot of work to do.” She described Labour as the “proud alternative to the government” and “the defensive shield for ninety nine percent of Israelis, who are being ignored by the government.”

Meanwhile, her rivals wasted no time in responding. Erel Margalit said that Yachimovich was to blame for losing a winnable election, while Isaac Herzog said “Holding a leadership primary now looks like narrow politics, which strengthens the public’s impression that we are irrelevant.” Eitan Cabel also questioned Yachimovich’s timing saying “There is no reason in the world to enter such hysteria and pressure when Labour is fighting against the budget.”