Two senior members of Israel’s Labor Party came out in support of Ehud Barak’s leadership bid. Party Secretary-General Eitan Cabel and lawmaker Matan Vilna’i announced this week that they would back the former Israeli prime minister in the May 28 primary for party leader. Barak already has the support of several top Labor figures, though polls of party rank-and-file show him trailing frontrunner Ami Ayalon, a retired admiral and former Shin Bet security chief. Israeli pundits have speculated that if either Barak or Ayalon succeeds in toppling Labor chief Amir Peretz, they could team up to challenge Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for top office.
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