By JPOST.COM STAFF
Labor's main competitors in the upcoming elections were quick to dismiss the Labor list. The Likud said that "Amir Peretz's victory in the primaries completes the Histadrut's control over the Labor party."
"The warehouse manager's assistant won," said Kadima, referring to Peretz. "The Labor party has an inexperienced candidate and an inexperienced team." They added that Labor has turned into "a branch of the Histadrut" because of the number of people who are high-ranking members of both organizations.
Shas chairman Eli Yishai referred to the Likud list as "gefilte fish," which is white, because of the lack of Oriental Jews. "Today it is clear to all supporters of the Labor party what color you need to be to get a membership [in Labor], and whoever isn't that color does not exist [to them]," he said.
MK Issac Herzog, the big winner of Tuesday's primaries, said upon hearing the news of his victory, "It's just a passing moment, one has to work hard."
Herzog said that he was happy that voters appreciated his efforts, since "that is the politician's reward."
Former head of Ben Gurion University, Professor Avishai Braverman, won the fourth spot on the list.
"I'm grateful to members of the party from across the country who supported me. We have the best team in Israel. This team, headed by Amir Peretz, I promise you, will bring in the votes! We will cause a revolution, Amir Peretz will be prime minister, and this team will lead the country," he said.
Another newcomer, former well-known journalist Shelly Yehimovitch, came in ninth. "This is actually the position that I had hoped for," she said. "I'm happy about my new position and the worthy team that I am in."
"I accept the judgment of democracy," said MK Binyamin Ben Eliezer, who dropped from fifth spot in the last primaries to a disappointing eighth. "I think that the 117,000 voters who came to the polls chose an excellent team. There's nothing left to do now but work."