Incumbent leader of Israel's center-left Labor Party and Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli won the party primaries on Monday with over 80% of the votes.
Beating her main challenger Labor Secretary-General Eran Hermoni with nearly 83% of the vote, Michaeli became the first Labor leader to win a second successive term as the head of the party since it began holding primaries in 1992.
"We proved that the Labor Party is here for the long run. Thank you for the trust and the mandate to keep working for you," Michaeli said after her win.
"The fact that this is the first time the party has reelected its chairperson indicates the profound change we have made. The Labor Party chooses continuity and continues rebuilding itself."
Hermoni's candidacy is considered an act of protest against Michaeli's conduct as party leader over the past year.
"I'm very proud of the journey we've made. Over 2,400 members of the party expressed confidence in my candidacy for the party's chairmanship and in our vision for a larger, more centrist, and social Labor Party. The seeds we have sown on this journey will sprout in the future and bring the labor movement back to its heyday," Hermoni said.
The Labor Party and its precursor Mapai was the dominant force in Israeli politics from the country's inception until 1977 after which it started to gradually lose its dominance to the conservative Likud Party.