Yachimovich Elected New Leader of Labor Party
Israel’s Labor Party elected Shelly Yachimovich as its new leader.
The 41-year-old Yachimovich, a Knesset member known for her advocacy on socio-economic issues, won Wednesday’s run-off election against Amir Peretz, a fellow Knesset member who served a stint as the party’s leader from 2005-2007.
Yachimovich beat Peretz with 54% of the vote to Peretz’s 45%. They had been the top two finishers in a September 12 party primary that resulted in the run-off.
Yachimovich will be the first woman since Golda Meir to lead Labor.
A recent Haaretz poll suggested that Labor led by Yachimovich is likely to win 22 Knesset seats in the next election, taking six seats from the centrist Kadima Party.
In the 2008 national elections, Labor won only 13 seats with Ehud Barak at its helm. In January, Barak, Israel’s defense minister, bolted Labor with four other Knesset members so as to remain in the current governing coalition.
After Barak’s defection, the remaining members of Labor promptly split with the Likud-led government and headed into opposition. Labor has had an acting leader in the interim.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!