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Ehud Barak. The big winner?
Photo: AFP
Ami Ayalon. Behind in exit polls
Photo: Doron Golan

Exit polls: Barak barely ahead in Labor race

All three TV channels give former prime minister an advantage in his run-off for Labor Party leadership against MK Ami Ayalon. Voter turnout around 65 percent; final results expected Wednesday morning

TV exit polls gave former Prime Minister Ehud Barak a slight advantage Tuesday evening in his run-off for the Labor Party leadership against Knesset Member Ami Ayalon.

 

Activists at Barak's headquarters in Tel Aviv expressed their joy over the exit polls, while Ayalon's supporters tried to remain optimistic, implying that some of the votes were forged and that they planned to appeal the election results.

 

The poll carried out by Channel 10 and the Midgam company predicted that Barak had won with 51 percent of the votes, Channel 2 and Ma'agar Mohot gave Barak a slim victory of 50.5 percent, while Channel 1 and Kamil Fuchs gave Barak a higher advantage of 4 percent – 52 percent to Barak compared to 48 percent to Ayalon.


 

Should the final results be as close as the exit poll results, an ongoing legal battle may take place between the two camps over alleged forgery. Sources at Ayalon's headquarters threatened to appeal the court, claiming they had evidence for forgery in the Arab sector.

 

Senior officials at Ayalon's headquarters told Ynet that they remained optimistic and believed that the gap would be narrowed in light of the fact that many voters arrived at the voting stations in the late evening hours.

 

Voter turnout was around 65 percent of registered Labor party voters. The kibbutz sector led the number of votes with a turnout of 62 percent. In Arab communities the voter turnout was 56 percent, and in the Druze sector it stood at 54 percent.

 

According to official results released Tuesday night, Barak won in the moshavim with 2,709 votes compared to 1,766 obtained by Ayalon. He also won in the kibbutzim with an advantage of 15 percent. In the Druze sector Barak received almost twice as many votes as Ayalon, with 4,323 votes to his rival's 2,518. In Jerusalem he won with 1,097 votes to 1,043.

 

Ayalon won in Tel Aviv, receiving 2,237 votes, while Ehud Barak received 1,599 votes. In Lod, Ayalon won with 420 votes, while Barak only got 39. In Sderot, Ayalon got 705 votes, compared to only 86 votes obtained by Barak.

 

Barak got 195 votes in Kiryat Shmona, while Ayalon was supported by only 113 voters. In Carmiel, Barak won with 251 votes, compared to 161 votes received by Ayalon. In Tiberias, Barak got 145 votes compared to 109 given to Ayalon. A close battle took place in Holon, where Barak won with 358 votes, compared to 342 votes given to Ayalon. 

 

According to estimates in the political arena, the winner will replace outgoing Labor Chairman Amir Peretz in the Defense Ministry and will serve as the State of Israel's news defense minister. This depends, however, on whether the winner will be willing to join Ehud Olmert's government.

 

A very senior source in Peretz's headquarters told Ynet that without the help of the outgoing Labor chairman and the social camp headed by him, "Ayalon would have lost with only 30 percent of the votes."

 

The source added, "Without a clear instruction in the development towns, Ayalon's people would have never gotten votes there. We brought much more than Ayalon lost in other places.

 

Aides to Peretz said that Barak's victory in the Arab and Druze sectors was the result of "deals."

 

Election day

After two weeks of wooing, negotiations, and speculations, the Labor Party chose its new chairman Tuesday. The ballots opened at 8:30 am and closed at 9:00 pm. The official results will be announced on Wednesday morning.

 

Shortly after the ballots opened, both candidates cast their vote, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak in Kfar Saba, and MK Ami Ayalon in Moshav Geva Carmel.

 

Barak called on Labor Party members to vote, and said that he was the only one who could unite the Labor party, and beat Knesset Member Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

Ayalon said that he felt he had a good chance at winning. “If they want a regeneration of the party, and a different road than the one it has been taking, my chances are good – if not, I will remain in the party as a regular member.”

 

Over 103,000 registered party members were given the chance to pick their new leader, who they hope will lead the party to brighter days.  

 

Between visiting ballots and trying to convince last-minute voters, Knesset Member Ami Ayalon took time Tuesday to speak at a conference held by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel.

 

"We are in the midst of a leadership crisis," he said. "People need to know we mean what we say, what we think. What goes through our heads when we decide to send our boys off to war and watch them come back in caskets? Is it a matter of personal interest or of a national one?  

 

"We have to act, have to prove we're worthy of public trust." In public life, said Ayalon, the prime minister isn't someone who just clocks in. "Leadership must be about setting goals and giving hope, otherwise it's useless.

 

"A captain knows that even though he has the final say, he still doesn't own the boat," said Ayalon, speaking about Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "And when a captain makes a mistake he must be replaced.

 

"We have to know we could be held accountable for our actions. We have to be responsible enough to know when to resign… we can't sail these seas without the citizens of this country knowing where we're going, and agreeing that it’s a better place."

 

Moran Zelikovich contributed to the report

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.12.07, 20:53
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