2002 Israeli Labor Party leadership election

← 2001

20 November 2002

2003 (interim) →

Turnout

59.5%


Candidate	Amram Mitzna	Binyamin Ben-Eliezer	Haim Ramon
Party	Labor	Labor	Labor
Popular vote	35,945	25,445	4,830
Percentage	53.91%	38.16%	7.24%

Leader before election

Binyamin Ben-Eliezer

Elected Leader

Amram Mitzna

A leadership election was held by the Israeli Labor Party 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]

Background

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]

Campaign

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]

Candidates

Amram Mitzna - Mayor of Haifa.^[19]
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer - Incumbent leader of the Labor Party and Minister of Defense (until 2 November 2002).^[20]
Haim Ramon - Member of the Knesset and former Minister of Health.^[21]

Results

2002 Israeli Labor Party leadership election^[22]^[23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labor	Amram Mitzna	35,945	53.91%
	Labor	Binyamin Ben-Eliezer	25,445	38.16%
	Labor	Haim Ramon	4,830	7.24%
Turnout			66,667	59.5%

Aftermath

Both Ben-Eliezer and Ramon coneded defeat after initial results showed a Mitzna victory.^[23] Ben-Eliezer was assigned the second spot on the party's list for the 2003 election,^[24] where the party won 19 seats, then an all-time low.^[25] After the election, Mitzna announced his resignation from the party leadership in May 2005,^[26] and was replaced by Shimon Peres, who became the interim leader until the next leadership election took place.^[27]

References

^ Shmueli, Smadar; Somfalvi, Attila (2002-11-20). "מצנע נבחר ליו"ר העבודה עם 53.9% מהקולות" [Mitzna elected leader of Labor with 53.9% of the vote]. ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-06-26.
^ Verter, Yossi (2002-11-20). "Mitzna Sweeps to Labor Party Victory; Ben-Eliezer: We'll Not Become Meretz II'". Haaretz. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
^ "הבחירות בישראל 2001" [2001 Israeli election]. Israel Democracy Institute. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
^ Karni, Yuval (2012-11-26). "אהוד ברק הודיע: פורש מהחיים הפוליטיים" [Ehud Barak announced his retirement from political life]. Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-05-04.
^ Bar Gefen, Linoi (2001-12-27). "בן אליעזר ניצח; הרב עובדיה התקשר לברך" [Ben-Eliezer Won; Rabbi Ovadia called to congratulate]. ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-06-28.
^ Bennet, James (2001-12-27). "Vote in Israel In Labor Party Seems to Keep Coalition Safe". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
^ Rotter, Yossi (2022-05-02). "ח"כ כבל: רמון יתמודד על ראשות העבודה" [MK Cabel: Ramon will run for Leadership of Labor]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-01.
^ Shmueli, Smadar (2002-07-05). "הבחירות לראשות העבודה יתקיימו ב-19 לנובמבר" [Labor leadership election will take place on 19 November]. ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-01.
^ Shmueli, Smadar (2022-08-01). "עמרם מצנע שוקל להתמודד על ראשות העבודה" [Amram Mitzna is considering running for leadership of Labor]. ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-01.
^ Shmueli, Smadar (2002-08-11). "וילנאי הודיע על תמיכתו במצנע לראשות העבודה" [Vilnai announces support for Mitzna as Labor Leader]. ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-01.
^ Shmueli, Smadar; Somfalvi, Attila (2002-08-11). "חולדאי: אני תומך במצנע" [Huldai: I support Mitzna]. ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-01.
^ Shmueli, Smadar (2002-08-12). "רמון דחה הצעת בן אליעזר לשתף פעולה נגד מצנע" [Ramon Rejected Ben-Eliezer's offer to cooperate against Mitzna]. ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-01.
^ ^a ^b Shmueli, Smadar (2002-08-13). "מצנע: אפעל להסדר קבע עם הפלסטינים" [Mitzna: I will work towards permanent settlement with Palestinians]. ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-01.
^ "שרון: "גחמה פוליטית של העבודה פירקה הממשלה". הנאום המלא" [Sharon: "A Political whim of Labor dissolved the government". The full speech]. ynet (in Hebrew). 2002-11-05. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
^ Shmueli, Smadar (2002-11-11). "סופית: הבחירות יתקיימו ב-28 בינואר" [Officially: Elections will take place on 28 January]. ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-13.
^ Shmueli, Smadar; Somfalvi, Attila (2002-11-13). "העימות: פואד ורמון הזיעו, מצנע שתה מים" [The Debate: Fuad and Ramon sweated, Mitzna drank water]. ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-13.
^ Bahur, Diana (2002-09-02). "רמון: "מצנע דחק עצמו לשמאל הקיצוני"" [Ramon: Mitzna has pushed himself towards the Radical Left]. ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-02.
^ Shmueli, Smadar (2002-09-18). "חיים רמון: פואד מחפש לעצמו סידור עבודה" [Haim Ramon: Fuad is looking for a job]. ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-02.
^ Lanski, Na'ama (2012-03-15). ""השריפות בכרמל הן עניין ידוע ולא עשו דבר"" ["Fires in the Caramel are a known issue and nothing has been done"]. Israel Hayom. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
^ "Binyamin (Fuad) Ben-Eliezer". Knesset (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-05-08.
^ Somfalvi, Attila (2003-10-30). "האם חיים רמון פורש מהחיים הפוליטיים?" [Is Haim Ramon retiring from political life?]. Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-25.
^ "העבודה" [Labor]. Labor. Archived from the original on 2002-11-27. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
^ ^a ^b Shmueli, Smadar; Somfalvi, Attila (2002-11-20). "מצנע נבחר ליו"ר העבודה עם 53.9% מהקולות". ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-06-26.
^ "הבחירות בעבודה - התוצאות הסופיות". ערוץ 7 (in Hebrew). 2002-12-10. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
^ "בחירות 2003" [2003 elections]. Israel Democracy Institute. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
^ Barzilay, Arnon; Mualem, Mazal (2003-05-05). "מצנע התפטר מראשות העבודה: "במצבה הנוכחי לא ניתן לנהל אותה"" [Mitzna Resigns from Labor leadership: "In its current situation, it cannot be managed"]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-08-25.
^ "פרס נבחר ליו"ר הזמני: "נחזיר את המפלגה לגדולתה"" [Peres elected temporary chairman: "We will return the party to its former greatness"]. ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-05-04.

This page was last edited on 5 November 2022, at 17:25