BICOM

Shelly Yachimovich defeated Amir Peretz yesterday, in the final round of the elections for the leadership of the Israeli Labour Party. Yachimovich received 54% of the votes, to Peretz’s 45%. Yachimovich is the first woman to lead the party since Golda Meir. In total, 61% of eligible voters exercised their right to take part in the election. After the result was announced, Peretz called Yachimovich expressing his hope that the two could find ‘common ground’ in dealing with issues important to Israel.

In her victory speech last night Yachimovich said, ‘we are a new non-sectarian party. We are committed to the poor and the rich, to Right and Left, to haredim and seculars, to Arabs and Jews.’ She also urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognise a Palestinian state alongside Israel as part of negotiations.

Yachimovich received the support of a number of the leaders of the recent social protests in Israel, and she is expected to stress social affairs and domestic issues in her campaigning for the party.