Labor primaries

Michaeli, Herzog, Shochat prevented from voting as party that founded state becomes mockery

There are seven candidates for the 37,104 eligible Labor party members to choose from, with current MK Merav Michaeli strongly placed ahead of a field of less well-known candidates.

Candidates also include MK, casino millionaire, adman and belly dancer

Lapid has remained steady at 14 seats instead of rising. Huldai has gone down and not up. And Gantz has not left politics, making it harder for parties that dislike him to unite.

Meirav Michaeli is set to run, challenged by advertising executive Gil Beilin and possibly by Itzik Shmuli.

"I will continue to work for the Israeli public out of love and great faith" and act "out of a sense of mission and personal example."

Peretz reiterated his plan to raise Labor from the six seats it won in the April 9 election to 15

Shaffir received an endorsement on Sunday from Rabbi Gilad Kariv, who heads the Reform movement in Israel.

The proposal to hold primaries was proposed by current party leader Avi Gabbay, after the party's failure at the national elections, in which the party received only six Knesset seats.

Only one candidate had the ultimate secret weapon: A mother from Brooklyn.