Labor leadership hopeful Ami Ayalon met Wednesday with outgoing party head Amir Peretz at the latter's office in the Defense Ministry, in a bid to secure his support ahead of the second primaries round, set to take place in two-weeks' time.
Labor Elections
Peretz to support contender with stronger social agenda / Amnon Meranda
As Barak, Ayalon begin efforts to secure support of Peretz and Pines for next round of elections, associates of outgoing Labor chairman say he will support contender committed to socioeconomic issues
Ayalon's aides said that he also planned to meet with the two other candidates who lost the first round, Ophir Pines and Danny Yatom.
According to the aides, Ayalon was seeking Peretz's cooperation because the two shared a common ideological platform.
The two agreed to launch negotiations over possible cooperation during the second round on June 12, and Peretz's associates said that the meeting went well and focused on ways to rehabilitate the party, and on social and political issues.
Earlier Wednesday, Ayalon stressed that he planned to try and reach an agreement with the defense minister despite reports that such a move would alienate voters in the kibbutzim and push them into the hands of Ayalon's rival, Ehud Barak.
Meanwhile, Barak himself said Wednesday that he had no intention of taking part in the "wheeling and dealing" over garnering support from party members. His comments prompted anger among Peretz's associates, who said Barak was being disrespectful toward the outgoing chairman.
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