Avi Gabbay Elected Head of «Israel’s» Labor Party

Local Editor

The "Israeli" entity's main opposition Labor party voted in former businessman Avi Gabbay as its new leader Monday, said the party as it seeks to regain waning influence and win back supporters.

Gabbay, who only joined the party in December, took 52 percent of the votes in the runoff against longtime politician and former party leader Amir Peretz, Labor said in a statement.

Nearly 59 percent of Labor's 52,505 members voted in the contest for leadership of the veteran party, which was seeking a new face to boost its standings in the polls.

The candidates advanced to the runoff by beating five others in last week's first round, with Peretz winning 32.7 percent and Gabbay 27.1 percent.

That vote saw current Labor chairman Isaac Herzog garner only 16.7 percent for a third-place finish, a rapid fall in popularity after leading the party in the last general elections in 2015.

Herzog had faced a barrage of criticism over his attempts to negotiate for his party to join "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition and over Labor's slide in opinion polls.

In a statement following the vote, Herzog -- who had endorsed Peretz ahead of the runoff -- congratulated Gabbay on his "impressive victory" and said he would stand by him "to help strengthen Labor and change the government."

"Israeli" politics has seen a shift rightward in recent years, with Netanyahu and his Likud party in power since 2009.

Centrist parties such as Yesh Atid and Kulanu -- which Gabbay was a member of until recently -- have also benefited at the expense of Labor.

The country's last Labor prime minister was Ehud Barak from 1999 to 2001.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team