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Labour party members will go to the polls today and will vote for a new leader of their party. An estimated 66,000 Labor party members are eligible to vote for one of the four leaders: Isaac Herzog, Amram Mitzna, Amir Peretz and Shelly Yachimovich. Polls will open today at 10am and close at 10pm with the vote counting taking place in the Labour headquarters in Kfar Saba. The results are expected to be released early on Tuesday morning. According to the latest surveys, Shelly Yachnomovich is the leading candidate. If no candidate receives more than 40 percent of the vote, then the top two candidates will face each other in a run off election next Wednesday

Yacimovich has been enjoying the support of the Israeli media in this race, praised for the clear presentation of her social agenda and has been hailed as the faltering Labour party’s last hope. A Former journalist and television presenter, she was elected to parliament in 2006 under Peretz’s patronage. Peretz, once headed Israel’s Histadrut trades union federation and is a former defence minister. Hertzog has held several cabinet posts and is the son of Israel’s sixth president, Haim Herzog. Mitzna, a retired general, has served as the mayor of both the northern port city of Haifa and the gritty southern town of Yeroham.