2007 Israeli Labor Party leadership election
The 2007 Israeli Labor Party leadership election was held on 12 June 2007, to elect a new leader for the Israeli Labor Party due to internal dissatisfaction with the incumbent chairman Amir Peretz. The winner was Ehud Barak.[1]
History
Five candidates ran in the elections: Ehud Barak attempted to return to politics, this time after the move of Shimon Peres to Kadima.
Ami Ayalon announced his ambition to become prime minister.
Peretz, the current party chairman, ran again but had a very low chance of winning.
Ofir Pines-Paz had been chairman of the coalition and chairman of the One Israel parliamentary group in the Fifteenth Knesset. He was the party's secretary-general in 2001-2003. In the 2006 Elections for the 17th Knesset he was third in the Labor-Meymad list, after Peretz and Herzog. When Yisra'el Beytenu joined the coalition and Avigdor Lieberman was appointed minister, Pines-Paz resigned from the government. His resignation took effect on November 1, 2006.
Danny Yatom ran in these elections but was not a popular candidate.
Outcome
Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak won a slim victory in the party primary, beating Ayalon, former head of the Shin Bet domestic security service. Both candidates polled well ahead of Peretz, but neither gained the requisite 40-percent margin of victory for an outright win.[2]