Peres, Vilnai join forces
Minister Matan Vilnai accepts Peres offer, drops out of Labor party primaries race; earlier, Vice Premier Peres says Vilnai and him see eye to eye on key issues, offers to appoint him as defense minister if Labor forms next government
“Matan Vilnai and I see eye to eye on the State of Israel’s fundamental problems,” Peres said. “I’m calling on him to join me and be my senior partner in leading the party and the country.”
Later, Peres said that if Labor forms the next government, he will invite Vilnai to serve as defense minister.
In his announcement, Vilnai said he was a “marathon runner” and added that although he hopes to lead the party one day, for the time being he realized his victory will have to wait.
When asked about his comments several days ago that Peres would lead the party to oblivion and an election defeat, Vilnai said: “With me there we won’t lose. When I’m there, everything looks different.”
Senior Labor party leaders have been pressing Vilnai to drop out of the race for the past week, in order to pave the way for a Peres Labor party primaries victory in the first round, after recent polls showed other front-runner Amir Peretz has narrowed the gap and is threatening an upset.
Vilnai associates have also discussed in the past two weeks the possibility that Vilnai’s insistence on taking part in the primaries could lead to a Peretz victory in the first round, a possibly most senior Labor figures see as anathema.
Referring to Peretz’ candidacy, Vilnai said Sunday: “He’s a worthy candidate, but a dangerous gamble for the party at this time.”
