1995 Israeli Labor Party leadership election

The 1995 Israeli Labor Party leadership election was held on 15 November 1995.[1] It saw the party's Central Committee formally vote to make Shimon Peres the party's leader.[1][2]

1995 Israeli Labor Party leadership election

← 1992 14 November 1995 1997 →
 
Candidate Shimon Peres

Leader before election

Vacant
(most recently Yitzhak Rabin)

Elected Leader

Shimon Peres

The election took place after the 4 November 1995 assassination of party leader and Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin.[2] After the assassination, Peres had been named the acting prime minister of a provisional government.[3][4][5] However, making Peres the leader of the Labor Party was seen as a formality that needed to be done before President Ezer Weizman could invite Peres form a new government.[1]

Due to the extraordinary circumstances, the election was limited to a vote of the membership the party's Central Committee, rather than being open to the party's general membership like the preceding 1992 leadership election and all subsequent Israeli Labor Party leadership elections[2] (with the exception of the 2003 election of an interim party leader).

The day after the leadership election, Peres was invited by President Weizman to form a new government. On 21 November 1995, Peres signed a coalition agreement between Labor, Meretz and Yiud (which had been members of Rabin's government), which was formally approved by the Knesset the next day, establishing a new government with Peres as prime minister.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "NEWS SUMMARY". The New York Times. 14 November 1995. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Kenig, Ofer (2009). "Democratizing Party Leadership Selection in Israel: A Balance Sheet". Israel Studies Forum. 24 (1): 62–81. ISSN 1557-2455. JSTOR 41805011. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  3. ^ "President Shimon Peres – Seventy years of public service". Office of the President of Israel. 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  4. ^ Brown, Derek; Black, Ian; Freedland, Jonathan (6 November 1995). "Israel's Yitzhak Rabin assassinated at peace rally - archive, 6 November 1995". the Guardian. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  5. ^ a b The Middle East and North Africa 2003. Psychology Press. p. 523. ISBN 978-1-85743-132-2. Retrieved 10 February 2022.