Former Labor party leader, now known as Machane Tzioni, Amir Peretz, is setting his sights on becoming Prime Minister of Israel. In an interview with Orech Din, a legal publication in Israel, Peretz explains his first step is to be elected as party leader again, and then bring the party to victory in elections. The latest election poll, released by Channel 1 TV on Monday evening 23 Elul shows Machane Tzioni, which now has 24 seats, falling to 12 in the next election. All recent polls show the party losing a minimum of half of its seats in the next elections so Peretz has his work cut out for him.

Peretz explains he has already begun campaigning in southern Israel. He himself is a resident of Sderot, a former mayor of the city and a former head of the Histadrut National Labor Federation. He is certain that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will not be the next Prime Minister, which is also in line with recent polls, which show Yair Lapid and his Yesh Atid party emerging from elections as the largest party in Israel, and therefore likely to be tapped to form the next government.

Peretz admits he has work ahead of him to unite the party behind his candidacy, but remains confident he can do it. He feels that while PM Netanyahu has run out of steam, exhausting what he has to offer, he on the other has a great deal to offer voters, using his skills as head of the nation’s labor union in a big way to address economic matters.

He also is confident that just has he has done in the past, he will unite many voters and break down the Ashkenazi Sephardi barrier and earn support from both communities.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)