Late News Bulletin Rabin Wins Election by 41 Votes

Premier Yitzhak Rabin won the Labor Party’s nomination tonight to head its list in the May 17 elections. The margin of his victory over Defense Minister Shimon Peres was an unexpected 41 votes. The official results of the balloting by the 3000 delegates to the Labor Party convention here was officially announced after midnight, local time. Observers here attributed Rabin’s victory in large measure to the growing momentum of Middle East diplomacy aimed at Israel-Arab peace talks later this year in which Rabin is deeply involved.

Before the balloting both he and Peres delivered impassioned speeches for the support of the convention delegates. Rabin spoke for only 20 minutes of the hour allotted him while Peres used his full hour. The Premier emphasized his military and diplomatic record. He recalled his service as a battalion commander during Israel’s War for Independence in 1948, his rise to the rank of general and Chief of Staff in the 1967 Six-Day War and later his tenure as Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S.

Rabin stressed his efforts, as Premier, to rebuild Israel’s military strength after the Yom Kippur War and strengthen its ties with America. He said that under his leadership the Labor Party was undergoing the healthy process of democratization. He said that if he no longer headed the party. the opposition could claim that Labor had repudiated its own leader and therefore its own policies.

Peres stressed in his speech that the Labor Party needed new vision and pledged that under his leadership it would enact new social and economic policies aimed at giving workers a larger share of the fruits of their labor. He said the forthcoming elections would be decided on domestic issues such as the social gap, aliya, yerida (emigration from Israel), education and labor relations. Although he did not specify his role, he claimed by implication responsibility as Defense Minister for the growth and success of Israel’s military establishment since the Yom Kippur War.

The vote tally was, for Rabin, 1445, Peres 1404, A total of 2780 ballots were cast. There were 16 abstentions. After the results were know, Rabin and Peres shook hands on the convention hall stage. In a brief speech, Peres pledged his solidarity with the chosen party leadership. Labor Party sources said after the vote that had the balloting occurred a week ago. Peres would have been victorious, though by a very slim margin. Peres seemed to be ahead in the campaigning but Rabin supporters launched a strenuous effort on his behalf during the final week.

Nevertheless, the closeness of the vote is expected to put Rabin on the defensive in the May elections. The opposition parties are expected to seize on his tiny margin to argue that he is not fully accepted by his own party.