Veteran Amir Peretz beats young challengers in Labor primary

Amir Peretz, 67, a former head of the Labor party, was returned to the leadership in round one of Tuesday’s primaries by 47 percent of the vote. He handily beat the two contenders Stav Shafir (26.9 pc) and Itzik Smuli (26.3pc), Peretz, who served in government in the past as defense minister, will lead Labor in the campaign for the September general election after the party plummeted heavily in the April vote.