Israel's Labour leader rides social discontent

19 January AFP

Pragmatic and confident, the head of Israel's Labour party Shelly Yachimovich believes she can eke out a victory in January elections by focusing on socio-economic discontent.

It is a strategy that the 52-year-old former journalist hopes can reinvigorate the party -- an Israeli stalwart that held 56 seats in the Knesset, or parliament during its 1969 heyday, but now has just eight.

So far, the strategy appears to be working.Labour is expected to become the second largest party in the next Knesset with around 18 seats, behind only the juggernaut list combining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud with the hardline nationalist Yisrael Beitenu of ex-foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Yachimovich, who joined the party six years ago, was named its leader last year after winning 54 percent of the primary vote compared with the 46 percent taken by her former mentor Amir Peretz, himself a one-time Labour leader.

Known for her campaigning on social issues, Yachimovich is hoping to capitalise on the widespread discontent over rising prices in Israel that spurred massive protests in mid-2011.

She has sought to clearly define the differences between Labour and the Netanyahu government, and even ruled out entering an eventual coalition with him, saying voters needed to see Labour as a real alternative.

Although she was not raised in the smoke-filled rooms of the Labour party, Yachimovich managed to defeat two seasoned opponents to take over as its head.It is only the second time that the party, which dominated Israel's political scene for the first few decades after the founding of the state, has elected a female leader -- the first being Golda Meir who was premier from 1969 to 1974.

Before she took the helm, Labour was effectively leaderless after its chairman Ehud Barak, the outgoing defence minister, left to form his own faction.

Four other Labour MPs jumped ship with him to form the Independence party in January 2011, but just two months ahead of Tuesday's election, Barak said he was retiring from politics and the faction has effectively disappeared.

A skilled debater and former radio and TV presenter, Yachimovich has benefited from a mostly a warm reception from the local media.