The 1980 Israeli Labor Party leadership election was held on 18 December 1980.[1] It saw the delegates to the party's convention reelect Shimon Peres as the party's leader. Peres defeated Yitzhak Rabin.
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This was the third of four leadership contests in which Rabin and Peres faced each other (following the 1974 and February 1977 and preceding by the 1992 leadership elections).[2]
The vote took place in advance of the 1981 Knesset election. At the time of the leadership election, Labor was broadly anticipated, per opinion polls, to have a strong performance over rival Likud in that election.[1]
Peres was expected to secure a comfortable reelection as party leader.[3] Rabin attempted to persuade the delegates comprising the electorate that he was more popular than Peres, and therefore presented the party with a greater chance at leading in the 1981 Knesset election.[1]
The election's electorate was the 3,101 delegates to the party's convention.[1][3]
Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|
Shimon Peres (incumbent) | 2,123 | 70.81 | |
Yitzhak Rabin | 875 | 29.19 | |
Total votes | 2,998 | 100 |