2024 Israeli Labor Party leadership election

Last updated

2024 Israeli Labor Party leadership election
HaAvoda Logo.svg
  2022 28 May 2024
Registered52,044
Turnout60.24%
  Yair Golan in Evyatar.jpg 3x4.svg
Candidate Yair Golan Avi Shaked
Popular vote29,832592
Percentage95.15%1.89%

Leader before election

Merav Michaeli

Elected Leader

Yair Golan

The 2024 Israeli Labor Party leadership election was held on 28 May 2024 to elect a successor to Merav Michaeli as leader of the Israeli Labor Party. Yair Golan won the election.

Contents

Background

Michaeli was first elected leader of the Israeli Labor Party in the party's 2021 leadership election. Prior to her election as the party's leader, opinion polling for the 2021 Knesset election had the party falling below the electoral threshold; however, the party's support in polling recovered after her election as its leader, [1] and the party won seven seats in the 2021 Knesset election. [2] Michaeli was re-elected as party leader in 2022, becoming the first Israeli Labor Party leader to win two consecutive leadership elections since 1984, and the only one to do it after the party first opened participation in leadership elections to all party members in 1992. [3]

Labor won four seats in the 2022 Knesset election (the minimum number of Knesset seats that an individual electoral bloc could receive if they exceeded the electoral threshold). Michaeli faced heavy criticism for her decision not to partner Labor in the election with the left-wing Meretz party, especially after the election's results came in. Meretz won no seats due to falling narrowly below the electoral threshold, which helped Likud and hard-right ally parties win enough seats to form a right-wing governing majority. [4] The Labor Party soon fell below the electoral threshold in opinion polling for the next Israeli legislative election. [5]

On 7 December 2023, Michaeli announced her intentions to relinquish her position as party leader and retire from politics after the end of the 25th Knesset. As a result, the party prepared to hold a leadership election in April 2024. [6] The same day that Michaeli announced her plan to step down, Meretz chairman Tomer Reznik proposed that Labor hold its primaries jointly with Meretz. [7] On 25 February 2024, the party set 28 May as the date of the leadership election. [8] In early May, the party announced that its registered membership had grown with 13,500 new members in advance of the leadership vote. [9]

Candidates

Campaign

On 26 February 2024, Yair Golan announced his candidacy. Golan is the former deputy chief of the Israel Defense Forces and a former Knesset member. Golan had first been elected to the Knesset in the September 2019 election on the list of the Democratic Union alliance. [10] Golan was re-elected to the Knesset in 2020 and 2021, [16] and served until the party fell below the electoral threshold in 2022. Ahead of the 2022 election, Golan had run unsuccessfully in the 2022 Meretz leadership election. Golan had received praise within Israel for his actions to rescue those caught in the Re'im music festival massacre during Hamas' 7 October 2023 attack. In his campaign for Labor party leadership, Golan has declared he wants to merge Labor with Meretz under a "new political framework". [10] Golan received endorsements from incumbent Labor MKs Gilad Kariv and Naama Lazimi. [17] Leshem, Nagar, and Shaked entered the race after Golan. Shaked opposes merging Labor with Meretz, and criticized Golan as "a Trojan horse ... who suddenly comes out of nowhere and tries to steal our party." [9]

Golan was perceived to the heavy front-runner in the election. [18]

Results

Ex-general and deputy minister Yair Golan won in a landslide, replacing outgoing Merav Michaeli as chairman and leader of the Israeli Labor Party. [19]

CandidateVotes%
Yair Golan 29,83295.15
Avi Shaked5921.89
Itai Leshem5511.76
Azi Nagar2410.77
None of the above1350.43
Total31,351100.00
Registered voters/turnout52,044
Source: Labor Party

Aftermath

The party would have needed to hold an election for its "party conference" within a month of the leadership election, according to a ruling made on 21 May 2024 by the Tel Aviv District Court. The ruling was appealed by Nir Rosen. [20] A day before the election, the District Court decision was reversed by the Supreme Court of Israel, who ruled that the results of the election will be final. [21] [22]

Outgoing leader Merav Michaeli publicly congratulated Golan, writing, "Good luck to Yair and the party." Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid party, also publicly congratulated Golan. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic Choice (Israel)</span> Political party in Israel

The Democratic Choice was a political party in Israel. Between 1999 and 2006, it was the name of a faction led by Roman Bronfman, which was associated with Meretz. In 2020 the party was revived for five days by Yair Golan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yair Golan</span> Israeli major general (born 1962)

Yair Golan is an Israeli politician and leader of the Democrats party and a senior military officer. He served as the Deputy Minister of Economy in the Thirty-sixth Israeli government, and served as a Member of the Knesset representing Meretz from 2019–2022. He is a reserve major general (Aluf) in the Israel Defense Forces. During his military service he served, among other roles, as the IDF Deputy Chief of Staff, Commander of the Home Front Command and Commander of the Northern Command. In May 2024, Golan was elected leader of the Israeli Labor Party on a platform of merging the party with the rival left-wing party, Meretz. On 30 June 2024, the two parties announced an agreement to form a new party, The Democrats. The agreement, which designates Golan leader of the new party, was approved by both parties' congresses on 12 July 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merav Michaeli</span> Israeli politician

Merav Michaeli is an Israeli politician, journalist, TV anchor, radio broadcaster, feminist, and activist currently serving as a member of the Knesset for the Democrats, which was formed in 2024 by a merger of the Labor and Meretz. She served as the Labor Party's leader from 2021 until 2024, and as Minister of Transport in the thirty-sixth government of Israel.

The Israeli Labor Party, commonly known as HaAvoda, was a social democratic political party in Israel. The party was established in 1968 by a merger of Mapai, Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi. Until 1977, all Israeli prime ministers were affiliated with the Labor movement. The final party leader was Yair Golan, who was elected on 28 May 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zehava Galon</span> Israeli politician

Zehava Galon, is an Israeli politician, the president of the research institute ZULAT for Equality and Human Rights and former leader of Meretz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meretz</span> Israeli political party

Meretz was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It had no seats in the Knesset following its failure to pass the electoral threshold in the 2022 elections, the first time it failed to win seats in the Knesset since the party's inception.

Snap legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 September 2019 to elect the 120 members of the 22nd Knesset. Following the previous elections in April, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition. On 30 May, the Knesset voted to dissolve itself and trigger new elections, in order to prevent Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz from being appointed Prime Minister-designate. This election marked the first time the Knesset voted to dissolve itself before a government had been formed.

The September 2019 Israeli legislative election was held using closed list proportional representation. Each party presented a list of candidates to the Central Elections Committee prior to the election.

Labor-Gesher was a joint list of the Israeli Labor Party and Gesher parties for elections for the twenty-second Knesset. The list advocated social democracy and progressive taxation. The list's platform focused primarily on socio-economic issues. The list was jointly headed by Amir Peretz of the Israeli Labor Party and Orly Levy of the Gesher party.

Legislative elections were held in Israel on 23 March 2021 to elect the 120 members of the 24th Knesset. It was the fourth Knesset election in two years, amidst the continued political deadlock following the previous three elections in April 2019, September 2019 and 2020. Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett announced that they had formed a rotation government on 2 June 2021, which was approved on 13 June 2021.

Legislative elections were held in Israel on 1 November 2022 to elect the 120 members of the 25th Knesset. The results saw the right-wing national camp of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu win a parliamentary majority, amid losses for left-wing and Arab parties, as well as gains by the far-right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Efrat Rayten</span>

Efrat Rayten-Marom is an Israeli actress, lawyer and politician. She is currently a member of the Knesset for the Democrats and previously for the Israeli Labor Party. She previously chaired the Labor, Welfare and Health Committee and chaired the Labor Party's faction in the Knesset following the 2022 election.

Labor-Gesher-Meretz or Emet, known as Labor-Meretz from March to April 2020, was an Israeli centre-left electoral list composed of three parties – the Israeli Labor Party, Gesher and Meretz. The list ran in the 2020 legislative election, led by Amir Peretz, chairman of the Labor Party. The list received seven seats in the election, of which three were for Labor, one was for Gesher and three were for Meretz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naama Lazimi</span> Israeli politician

Naama Lazimi is a politician and Member of the Knesset for the Democrats and previously for the Labor Party. Previously, she was a member of the Haifa City Council and vice chairman of the Student Association at the University of Haifa. She is also involved in LGBT rights activism.

In the run up to the next Israeli legislative election, various organisations are conducting opinion polling to gauge voting intention in Israel during the term of the twenty-fifth Knesset. This article lists the results of such polls.

The 2022 Meretz leadership election was held on 23 August 2022 in the leadup to the 2022 Israeli legislative election. On 12 July, incumbent Nitzan Horowitz announced that he would not seek re-election as leader. Former party leader Zehava Galon defeated former deputy Chief of the General Staff Yair Golan.

Legislative elections are scheduled to be held in Israel by 27 October 2026 to elect the 120 members of the twenty-sixth Knesset. In late February 2024 it was suggested it was likely they would take place in January or February 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Israeli Labor Party leadership election</span> Israeli Labor Party leadership election

The 2022 Israeli Labor Party leadership election was held on 18 July 2022 to elect the leader of the Israeli Labor Party in the lead-up to the 2022 Israeli legislative election. The election saw the incumbent party leader, Merav Michaeli, reelected with 82% of the vote, fending off a challenge by party secretary Eran Hermoni. Michaeli's victory made her the first Labor Party leader to win consecutive leadership contests since leadership elections were first opened to the party's full membership in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Democrats (Israel)</span> Israeli political party

The Democrats is a progressive political party in Israel, formed by the merger of the Israeli Labor Party and Meretz in July 2024. It is led by Yair Golan, who was the Labor Party leader prior to the merger and previously served as an MK for the Democratic Union before joining Meretz.

References

  1. "New leader seeks to save Israel's Labor party from extinction". France 24 . 17 March 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  2. Federman, Josef (25 March 2021). "Final vote results show major setback for Israel's Netanyahu". Associated Press . Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  3. Keller-Lynn, Carrie (18 July 2022). "Michaeli clinches second elected term as Labor leader, a first in party's history". The Times of Israel . Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  4. Keller-Lynn, Carrie (7 December 2023). "Assailed for left's Knesset woes, Michaeli says she will step down as Labor chief". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  5. Yerushalmi, Shalom (17 April 2023). "Labor MKs seek to replace leader Michaeli, claim party's future depends on it". The Times of Israel . Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  6. Keller-Lynn, Carrie (7 December 2023). "Labor's Michaeli to quit politics, party to hold leadership vote in April". The Times of Israel . Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  7. Marsden, Ariella (7 December 2023). "Labor leader to quit politics, calls for primaries". The Jerusalem Post . Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  8. Sokol, Sam (25 February 2024). "Israel's Labor party sets election for May 28, months after current chair Michaeli's resignation". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 Sokol, Sam (6 May 2024). "Labor party announces the final slate of leadership candidates". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 Horovitz, Michael (27 February 2024). "Ex-deputy IDF chief Yair Golan enters Labor party leadership race". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  11. Itai Leshem runs for Havoda chair, in Labor's Bama Raayonit website.
  12. Itai Leshem, on Twitter.
  13. Itai Leshem: I have evidence proving Facebook colluded with Netanyahu to tilt Israeli elections., on Medium.
  14. נגר, עזי. "עזי נגר מתמודד לראשות מפלגת העבודה בפריימריז 2024". הבמה הרעיונית של מפלגת העבודה (in Hebrew). Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  15. https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politi/2024-04-24/ty-article/0000018f-0f45-d3e8-adaf-0f7f637b0000
  16. Wootliff, Raoul; Magid, Jacob (26 March 2021). "Reform rabbi, Kahanist agitator, firebrand writer: The new Knesset's 16 rookies". The Times of Israel . Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  17. Sokol, Sam (17 March 2024). "Labor MKs Lazimi, Kariv endorse Yair Golan for party leadership ahead of primaries". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  18. "If the Left wants a fighting chance in the next elections, they must unite - editorial". The Jerusalem Post. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  19. 1 2 Sokol, Sam (28 May 2024). "Yair Golan wins landslide victory in Labor primary with promise to unite the left". The Times of Israel . Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  20. Sokol, Sam (27 May 2024). "'A political corpse': Tuesday primary could mark revival of ailing Labor party". The Times of Israel . Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  21. אזולאי, מורן (27 May 2024). "העליון קיבל את ערעור מפלגת העבודה: תוצאות הפריימריז יהיו סופיות". ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  22. "The Labor Party elections will take place as planned". Mivzak Live. 27 May 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.