After stinging defeat, Peres says mulling retirement from politics
By Yair Ettinger, Mazal Mualem and Daniel Ben-Simon, Haaretz Correspondents
Outgoing Labor Party chairman and Vice Premier Shimon Peres on Thursday said he was considering retirement from political life following his stunning defeat in the party leadership race to the fiery Histadrut labor federation chairman Amir Peretz.
Meeting with Labor ministers hours after the dramatic primary vote, Peres said he would take time off in order to mull his next moves, and that he would not take part in Friday's Labor Knesset faction meeting.
Eighty-two-year-old Peres has yet to call Peretz to congratulate him for his election as party leader. Before the elections, Peres avoided a commitment to rally behind Peretz if elected.
Advertisement
Peretz returns to political roots Several hours after he was announced as the new leader of the Labor Party, Peretz returned to his political roots to outline his political vision as the Labor candidate for premiership.
The victory is an unexpected result and a blow to the Labor old guard by Histadrut labor federation chairman Peretz who was named Thursday morning the new chairman of the Labor Party, defeating the incumbent and favorite, Vice Premier Shimon Peres.
Speaking near the grave of slain prime minister Yitzhak Rabin at the Mount Hertzl cemetery in Jerusalem, Peretz stressed that reaching a peace accord with the Palestinians is at the top of his political priority list.
"We will not rest until we reach a permanent agreement (with the Palestinians) that would secure a safe future for our children and that would provide us with renewed hope to live in a region where people lead a life of cooperation and not, God forbid, where blood is shed from time to time," Peretz said.
The new Labor chairman emphasized this move is a direct continuation of Rabin's political heritage: "I came today to make a vow to Rabin, once again, that I intend to do everything I can to continue his way, I intend to do everything I can so that [Rabin's] assassin would know he failed to murder peace."
Peretz recounted his long tenure as a loyal supporter of the late prime minister: "I was by Rabin's side in the days he struggled for his place in Israeli politics, I was with him in his days of isolation, and also in the days of overwhelming support from the people of Israel when they flooded him with warmth and admiration. I was also next to him on that dreadful night when we lost Yitzhak (Rabin) in the murder that shocked Israel and sought to sever and end his life and his way."
Soon after the official results were announced, the new Labor chief quickly reiterated his intention of pulling the party out of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government, propelling the country into political disarray and advancing the likelihood of early general elections.
"We will notify the prime minister that we want to leave. We want to leave... certainly out of a desire to turn the Labor Party into an alternative that intends to take power in the next elections," he said.
"Amir will discuss with the prime minister an agreed date for an election," said Yuli Tamir, a Labor legislator and Peretz supporter.
Winner of a tightly-run race The voting result, which came at dawn, followed a tightly-run race between the two opponents, which initially showed a slight lead for Peres.
Peretz, a fiery union leader, wants to steer the party back to its socialist roots, pull out of the coalition and force early elections. His message has resonated with Israelis disenfranchised by government cuts in social spending and the country's growing gap between rich and poor.
Shortly after 6 A.M., amid cheering from Peretz's supporters, Labor Secretary-General Eitan Cabel announced that Peretz had won with 42.35 percent of the votes, while Peres was backed by 39.96 percent of voters. In third place was Benjamin Ben Eliezer, with 16.82 percent of the vote.
Cabel was quick to rebuff claims of fraud and irregularities in the elections, which caused Peres to issue a last minute call for a halt in the count.
The release of the vote's final results was stalled by several hours as the Labor election committee, led by Cabel, headed early Thursday morning to the vote counting center in Petah Tikva after several claims of fraud in polling stations.
Peres appeals against results In a pre-dawn press conference, Peres called on Labor's legal institutions to look into claims of severe irregularities in polling stations in Sderot and Be'er Sheva, two Peretz strongholds.
Some of the vote results "raised exceptional doubts," Peres said. "It is unreasonable that in communities where I had a majority I have now dropped to seven votes."
"I expected a better evening," Peres said.
Sitting alongside Peres, former prime minister Ehud Barak said the outcome of the primaries did not reflect the will of the party's voters.
But Labor Secretary-General Eitan Cabel had been quick to rebuff claims of fraud and irregularities in the elections, which caused Peres to issue a last minute call for a halt in the count.
Several hours later, the election committee announced it had rejected Peres' claims of fraud and okayed the completing of the counting of the votes in the remaining 13 polling stations from a total of 318.
The Peretz camp erupted into celebrations when the Histadrut chief took the lead in the vote count early Thursday, and Israel Radio said he was headed to party headquarters to make an announcement. The uncounted districts were believed to favor Peretz, and Israeli radio stations said his victory was imminent
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
