Herzog wins an upset victory as Israel’s Labor leader

He wrested the leadership from Shelly Yacimovich by a 58.5 percent lead in the Labor party’s primary Thursday. This party,which founded the state of Israel under David Ben Gurion, has declined over the years and dropped to 15 seats in the last Knesset election under Yacimovich’s leadership. Herzog, a 53-year old father of three, who has served as minister in several cabinets and is the son of a president, was backed by the Old Guard against the woman they saw as a pushy parvenu who failed to deliver. Herzog is strong on diplomatic policy and likely to drive a left-of-center agenda.