BICOM

At a press conference yesterday, senior Labour MKs Eitan Cabel and Erel Margalit threw their support behind Isaac Herzog, who announced his candidacy for the party’s leadership in a primary set to take place on 21 November.

Cabel and Margalit had been considering their own leadership bids, but were persuaded to support Herzog, in order to maximise the chances of unseating Shelly Yachimovich who has led the Labour Party since 2011. Yachimovich recently announced the date for the leadership vote in accordance with Labour Party regulations which state that in the event of losing a general election, the party must hold a leadership election within fourteen months. Labour secured fifteen seats in January’s election.

Herzog, who heads the party’s Knesset faction, is a former government minister and is the son of former-President Chaim Herzog. Speaking yesterday, Herzog said that the public “see the Labour Party as an auditing committee, not a party. Labour under Yachimovich has failed.” He added, “I believe that under me, Labour will get stronger and head a centre-left alliance that can beat the right.”

Cabel, who finished third in the party’s primaries earlier this year, said “I decided to do what I believe is best for the Labour Party… to rally around the leadership of Herzog.” Although he admitted that he and Herzog did not see eye to eye on everything, Cabel praised Herzog’s “ability to unify, to connect and talk to people as equals.” Meanwhile, Margalit criticised Yachimovich’s leadership, saying that her exclusive focus on social-economic issues means that “she has lost the diplomatic voice.” Importantly, Margalit’s support for Herzog is thought to have been encouraged by Histadrut labour federation head Ofer Eini, an influential voice within the party.

Yachimovich quickly responded to Herzog’s announcement, calling him a “worthy challenger” and said that the contest represents the “lifeblood of modern democracy.”