Cabel vows to challenge Histadrut election results

"You can call me the next head of the Histadrut," Cabel says despite losing vote to rival Ofer Eini by wide margin.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Eitan Cabel 298 (photo credit: Channel 10)
Eitan Cabel 298
(photo credit: Channel 10)
Labor MK Eitan Cabel vowed Thursday to take the Histadrut labor federation to court to challenge the results of Tuesday’s leadership race, even though he lost by a huge margin to incumbent Histadrut chief Ofer Eini.
With more than 175,000 of some 200,000 votes counted, Eini led Cabel, 66.5 percent to 33.4%. Eini’s Ogenim list for the Histadrut convention received twice as many votes as Cabel’s Bayit Hevrati list. Eini’s candidate, Galia Wallach, also beat Cabel ally Tamar Zandberg to become head of the Na’amat Women’s organization.
“If someone thinks I will give up and not investigate how Eini ran this election, I assure you that I do not intend to rest or be silent,” Cabel said. “The Eini era is over. You can call me the next head of the Histadrut.”
Cabel vowed to lead a fighting opposition in the Histadrut using the base that he won in the race. He said he would make sure that Eini will no longer be able to get away with what he had done in the past, including pressure tactics against his critics and favoring large unions over smaller ones.
“Considering that this was a battle of David against Goliath, our achievement is huge,” Cabel said. “We were up against an organized force that did everything possible to steal the election.
Despite Eini’s scare tactics, we got a third of the members to tell him they don’t want him anymore.”
Eini responded that the vote count was done by an outside company and the election committee was headed by a former judge. He thanked his voters for their support and challenged Cabel to take his complaints to the police.
“The huge victory and clear results prove that the voters chose my path and they want me to make the Histadrut the strongest socioeconomic organization in Israel,” Eini said.
Labor Party chairwoman Shelly Yacimovich congratulated Eini and vowed to cooperate with him on behalf of workers’ rights and against the socioeconomic policies of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government.