Israel Hayom via JNS
By Yori Yalon
For the first time since its inception in the 1960s, in the March elections Israel’s Labor Party may fail to pass the electoral threshold.
Labor leader Amir Peretz’s decision to step down ahead of Israel’s March 2021 elections has left the party facing perhaps the most uncertain future ever.
Polls over the past three months have consistently predicted that for the first time since its inception in the mid-1960s, the party will fail to pass the electoral threshold.
Party insiders believe that Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn is likely to leave Blue and White and join Labor in a bid to lead the party.
Another potential candidate for party leader is popular Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai. Elected for his fifth consecutive five-year term as mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo in 2018, Huldai has been toying with the idea of entering national politics for years but has yet to take the plunge.
Labor officials also hedged that former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot and former Military Intelligence Director Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin could be in the running to save Labor.
Labor MKs Merav Michaeli and Itzik Shmuli have also been mentioned in political circles as potential candidates for Labor leadership.
Party insiders have criticized Peretz for his decision to “abandon” the party as it faces an unprecedented electoral crisis, for what is believed to be a presidential run.
Peretz has often said he would vie for the mostly symbolic post when he “feels the time is right.” President Reuven Rivlin’s seven-year term in office will come to its end in June 2021.
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
Caption: Labor Party chairman Amir Peretz (center), Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz (second from left) and party members hold a press conference in Tel Aviv on March 12, 2020.
Photo by Tomer Neuberg/Flash90.
