Amir Peretz vows to form 'house of lords' if he wins Labor race

MK vows to embark on effort to return to Labor security and socioeconomic figures who left the party.

By GIL HOFFMAN
Updated: JUNE 27, 2017 01:37
Amir Peretz (photo credit: REUTERS)
Amir Peretz
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Labor candidate Amir Peretz promised that if he wins the July 4 party leadership race, he will form an advisory board of former ministers and MKs who supported him, calling it his “house of lords.”
Peretz spoke on Sunday night at an event at Ramat Gan’s Kfar Hamaccabiah Hotel, attended by 20 former ministers and MKs backing him in the primary.
“The party requires revolutionary innovation while systematically turning to its roots,” Peretz said. “Among our former senior figures there is a wealth of wisdom, knowledge, experience and understanding about the public’s needs, and I intend to take advantage of it in our struggle to replace the failed government of Benjamin Netanyahu.”
Peretz vowed to embark on an effort to return to Labor security and socioeconomic figures who left the party.
Former ministers Uzi Baram and Yuli Tamir, former deputy defense minister Weizmann Shiri, and former party leader Amram Mitzna endorsed Peretz at the event, which was also attended by former Labor secretary-generals Ra’anan Cohen and Nissim Zvili.
Incumbent Labor leader Isaac Herzog, who is seeking reelection, was set to conclude his campaign late Monday night at an event in Rishon Lezion, which was to be addressed by Keren Kayemet Le’Israel chairman Danny Atar, former OC Southern Command Yom- Tov Samia, MK Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin and the head of the Reform movement in Israel, Rabbi Gilad Kariv.
Former environmental protection minister Avi Gabbay, who is also seeking to lead Labor, was set to speak Monday night in Givatayim, Tuesday night in Kfar Saba and Wednesday at Moshav Tidhar. On Sunday, he addressed a crowd in Eilat.
MK Omer Bar-Lev, another candidate in the race, was set to address campaign rallies Monday in Jaffa, Tuesday in Druse villages and then Modi’in, and Wednesday in Netanya.
MK Erel Margalit, who is also running, urged Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Avi Dichter to hold a special meeting on evidence against Netanyahu in the so-called submarine affair that he says he brought back from Germany. Dichter, a Likud MK, responded that his committee’s agenda would not be dictated by the schedule of Margalit’s campaign.