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Two Moroccan-Israeli politicians were able to defeat in the first round Isaak Herzog, leader of the opposition Labor Party. Amir Peretz and Avi Gabbay won the party’s leadership elections on Tuesday. According to an article published by the Los Angeles Times, «the primary election was won by Amir Peretz, a former Labor chairman and Defense Minister, with 33% of the vote» while his counterpart «Avi Gabbay finished second with 27%».
The two Moroccan politicians will have to compete for the leadership of the left-wing party on the 10th of July. The winner will be the new chairman of the Labor Party and would eventually take part to the election race facing Benjamin Netanyahu.
Politicians from Morocco
Born in Bejaad, Morocco in 1952, Amir Peretz is currently a member of the Knesset for the Zionist Union. He was appointed as Minister of Defence and worked later as Minister of Enviromental Protection. Peretz who was a chairman of the Histadrut trade union federation managed to defeat Shimon Peres in the primary elections for the Labor leadership in 2005. He moved to Israel with his family after Morocco gained its independence in 1956. He had left the opposition party for 8 years and rejoined it again in September 2015.
Avi Gabbay, who is also competing for the leadership of the labor party, was born in 1967 in Jerusalem. His parents were Jewish immigrants who came originally from Morocco. Gabbay also served as Minister of Environmental Protection and Minister of Finance. In 2016, Gabbay joined the Labor Party and one year later he runs for its top position.
According to the same source, both Gabbay and Peretz are determined to run for the elections after winning the party’s leadership. «The success of Peretz and Gabbay, both of whom have Moroccan roots, raises the possibility that they will be able to boost the party’s appeal among Israel’s Middle Eastern Jewish population, which resents Labor as a party of secular European elites and prefers Netanyahu’s Likud party», Los Angeles Times points out.
Gabbay, after revealing the results, announced saying : «We are not a closed club», referring to the Labor Party. The latter was established in 1968. It is associated with supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace progress, pragmatic foreign affairs policies and social democratic economic policies.
