Amir Peretz was ousted as Labor Party chief in an internal vote, exit polls showed. Israeli television stations Channel 1 and Channel 2 aired preliminary results of Monday’s election indicating that Peretz, the incumbent and Israel’s defense minister, had been crushed by rivals Ehud Barak and Ami Ayalon. Polls before the vote had showed Peretz, who was censured for his actions as defense minister by the commission investigating last summer’s Lebanon war, trailing badly. The TV stations differed, however, on which contender was leading: Channel 1 had Barak, the former prime minister, with 38 percent of the votes, while Channel 2 had Ayalon, the former head of the Shin Bet security service, with 39 percent. The winner must have at least 50 percent of the vote to avoid a June 11 runoff.
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