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Turnout | 59.5% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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A leadership election was held by the Israeli Labor Party on 19 November 2002. Mayor of Haifa Amram Mitzna defeated incumbent Leader Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and Member of the Knesset Haim Ramon. [1] [2]
In 2001, special elections for the position of prime minister took place after the resignation of Ehud Barak. Barak, then the leader of the Labor party, lost to Ariel Sharon. [3] The Labor Party joined Sharon's new party, with Barak subsequently retiring from political life. [4] Following his resignation, Barak was replaced as party leader by Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who defeated Speaker of the Knesset Avraham Burg in a leadership election in December 2001. [5] Due to tensions regarding the leadership election, it was decided that a second leadership election would be held in 2002. [6] In May 2002, Eitan Cabel stated that Member of the Knesset Haim Ramon would run for the party's leadership, with Cabel serving as Ramon's campaign manager. [7] In July, Ben-Eliezer and Ramon agreed to hold the election on 19 November. [8]
On 1 August, Haifa Mayor Amram Mitzna stated that he was considering running for the leadership of the Labor Party. [9] Several politicians, including Minister of Science, Culture and Sport Matan Vilnai, [10] Mayor of Tel Aviv Ron Huldai, [11] and Member of the Knesset Yossi Katz, [12] endorsed the idea. Mitzna formally announced his candidacy on 13 August. [13]
On 5 November 2002, following Labor's withdrawal from the government, the Knesset was dissolved, [14] and new elections were called for January 2003. [15] On 12 November, Mitzna, Ben-Eliezer and Ramon participated in a televised debate on Channel 2. [16]
Mitzna campaigned on a solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He stated that Israel should negotiate a permanent settlement with the Palestinians, which would include the evacuation of Israeli outposts. [13]
Ramon criticized Mitzna for advocating negotiations with Palestinian authorities, arguing that Israel should unilaterally withdraw from both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. He also criticized Ben-Eliezer's plan to construct a Separation barrier in the West Bank, believing that Israel should withdraw before a barrier is built. [17] Ramon also criticized Ben-Eliezer for participating in Sharon's Government. [18]
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Amram Mitzna | Labor | 35,945 | 54.28 | |
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer | Labor | 25,445 | 38.42 | |
Haim Ramon | Labor | 4,830 | 7.29 | |
Total | 66,220 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 66,220 | 99.08 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 617 | 0.92 | ||
Total votes | 66,837 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 59.5% | |||
Source: Israeli Labor Party, Archived via the Internet Archive, ynet |
Both Ben-Eliezer and Ramon coneded defeat after initial results showed a Mitzna victory. [22] Ben-Eliezer was assigned the second spot on the party's list for the 2003 election, [23] where the party won 19 seats, then an all-time low. [24] After the election, Mitzna announced his resignation from the party leadership in May 2005, [25] and was replaced by Shimon Peres, who became the interim leader until the next leadership election took place. [26]