Tight Race in Israel's Vote for Labour Leadership ; WORLD

May 29, 02:01 AM

Current Headlines: By Donald Macintyre

Amir Peretz's troubled leadership of the Israeli Labour Party looked doomed last night after exit polls showed him trailing behind his two challengers for the post, the former intelligence head Ami Ayalon and the former prime minister Ehud Barak.

Two television exit polls last night had conflicting findings over which of the two challengers was in the lead. But both put Mr Peretz in third place. The one potential consolation for Mr Peretz was the chance of ending up as the kingmaker whose supporters could decide the outcome of the contest - in the event of a runoff between his two rivals. Much in the highly volatile state of Israeli politics was hanging on the outcome of the Labour primaries.

Mr Ayalon has made it clear he would seek to withdraw his party from the governing coalition if he wins and if Ehud Olmert remains Prime Minister, despite the withering criticisms levelled at Mr Olmert by the Winograd official inquiry into last summer's Lebanon war.

Because no one in the coalition wants elections, which could well deliver victory to the right-wing opposition leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, an Ayalon victory could well trigger a revolt against Mr Olmert within his own Kadima Party.

Mr Peretz, the current De-fence Minister, had been bullish after voting in his home town of Sderot, where Qassam rockets from Gaza continued to fall yesterday. But Mr Barak emphasised his military background as a former chief of staff and defence minister. "Think about who you want more in a time of war", and "Only I will beat Bibi" - a reference to his perceived electoral appeal over Mr Netanyahu.

Having argued all the way to the polling station in Jerusalem's Baka district about the relative merits of Ami Ayalon and Ehud Barak, Labour Party members Elaine and Eli Tal-El were still arguing when they left. Mrs Tal-El, 49, had voted for Mr Ayalon, whose joint proposals for a two-state solution signed in 2002 with the Palestinian intellectual and former PLO representative in Jerusalem, Sari Nusseibeh, she liked. "I know he's a novice to the game, and doesn't have experience as prime minister," she said. "But he has very strong values and integrity."

Mr Tal-El, 53, favoured Mr Barak, who has been more opaque about his intentions toward the coalition. "Barak's a guy with experience," he said. "Barak was the first leader who was prepared to give up [the idea of an undivided] Jerusalem and he was prepared when he was Prime Minister to give up 95 per cent of the [Palestinian] territories. Maybe he's not so friendly and he has defects. But we're not electing someone to win a beauty contest." His wife interjected: "We don't know where [Barak's] at now. He hasn't said a word."

Leah Nathan Marciano, 52, said she had voted once again for Mr Peretz. "I believe him," she said. "He's working from the right place. He is the only one who has a social agenda." Should Labour leave the coalition with Kadima? "It's difficult," Mrs Marciano said. "I will be happy if Olmert goes. He was a bad mayor of Jerusalem and I'm not surprised he's a bad Prime Minister."

Shalom Turjeman, 52, a bus driver, was more laconic, refusing to say for whom he had voted, and added, using a Hebrew word for "mess" about the political scene: "There is a very big balagan in Israel."

The UK's ambassador to Israel, Tom Phillips, assured the Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Lvni, yesterday that the Government opposed boycotts of Israel. The University and College Union is to consider a boycott of Israeli academia at its conference tomorrow in Bournemouth.

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