MK Ami Ayalon, who is neck and neck with Ehud Barak to become head of the Labor Party, left open the possibility Monday that Labor will stay in the government if he is elected leader. He said the decision would be made by the party's institutions.

The outgoing Labor chairman, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who is backing Ayalon, hopes to stay in the government. He wants a cabinet post that will let him get involved in socioeconomic issues.

Ayalon told his supporters during a meeting at his campaign headquarters in Tel Aviv that he had not held negotiations with Peretz to discuss who would get which position if Ayalon wins the primaries' runoff against Barak, a former prime minister. Ayalon said he told Peretz that he has nothing to promise him.

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Ayalon also said he had never hidden his criticism of Peretz, but added that the Labor Party needed him.

"Peretz must not return to Sderot because he is an important and legitimate part of the Labor Party leadership, even though we have been on the receiving end of a lot of jeering," said Ayalon. "We also said that Barak must not go back to [doing] business, because there is no other way for the Labor Party to return to power."

Meanwhile, the Barak camp made an effort to win over Ayalon and Peretz voters. They have succeeded in wooing Boaz Cabel, an adviser to Peretz and the brother of Labor secretary general Eitan Cabel. Boaz Cabel headed a large group of Labor voters in the Peretz camp, handing Peretz the most votes from Rosh Ha'ayin - but he confirmed Monday that he plans to support Barak.

Barak also won the support of MK Danny Yatom, one of the candidates in the first round of the primaries. Yatom came in last, with 2.7 percent of the vote.

"The critical period the state is in requires us to choose a person with experience," Yatom said at a press conference in the Knesset Monday.

The Barak camp says it expects that Peretz's support will win Ayalon some extra votes from among Peretz's fans, but will lose him even more votes from among Peretz's detractors, especially among kibbutz members.