The election of Knesset member Amir Peretz as chairman of the Labor Party on July 2 was a resounding blow to former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and his plan to lead a large left-wing bloc. Barak took politics by storm on June 26 when he returned with a new party and worked behind the scenes to try to get senior Labor Party member Itzik Shmuli elected Labor's leader. It is thought that had that happened, Labor would have immediately merged with Barak’s still-to-be named new party. In actuality, Barak saw it as an opportunity to make a run for the Prime Minister’s Office.
Although this all sounds politically unviable, Barak is known for his tangled, complicated plans. In his thinking, he would be able to take over the Labor Party through Shmuli and then join forces with Meretz, creating a left-wing bloc and emerging as an alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This assumption was based on the perception that Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz has shown himself to be weak in mounting an effective opposition to Netanyahu. The extent to which Barak was invested in this initiative can be seen in the series of steps he took over the last few days.
