Jerusalem – A former prime minister and a political newcomer who both pledge to bring down Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s government are in a runoff for leadership of the Labor Party after the first round of voting, final results showed today.
Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak edged out Ami Ayalon 36 percent to 31 percent on Monday’s ballot. While the victory was a milestone in Barak’s political comeback, he fell short of the 40 percent needed for victory, setting up a June 12 runoff.
The current Labor leader, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, finished third with 22 percent.
Labor has served as the junior partner in Olmert’s year-old government.
But Barak or Ayalon is expected to shake up that alliance. Both have called for Olmert’s resignation in the wake of a highly critical government report on his performance during last summer’s war in Lebanon.
Ayalon, a former navy chief and ex-head of the Shin Bet internal security agency, entered parliament last year. He won support as a newcomer while also holding the security credentials demanded by Israeli voters.
Ayalon, 61, has pledged to lead the centrist Labor out of the government if Olmert’s Kadima Party does not choose a new leader.
“I think many people understand that we are, in fact, not just voting on the future of the Labor Party but to a very large extent on the future leadership of the state of Israel,” he said at a northern Israel polling station.
Barak said his experience made him the best man for the job. A former military chief and the country’s most decorated soldier, the 65-year-old was prime minister from 1999 to 2001.
Barak has said he would serve in an Olmert government, while pushing for early elections.
ap polls show the hard-line Likud Party, led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would win a new election.
But a longer runup could benefit Ayalon or Barak.
