Knesset member Shelly Yachimovich was elected leader of the Labor Party, defeating Knesset member Amir Peretz in the primary elections. Yachimovich was the first female to be elected as head of the party since Golda Meir. Speaking to reporters she said she had received congratulatory telephone calls from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Opposition leader Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and her rival Peretz. In her victory speech Yachimovich vowed to work together as a united party and bridge the historic Labor movement to the winds of change blowing on the streets. The Labor Party she declared is a non-sectarian party, committed to the poor, the rich, all sectors of the political sphere, religious and secular members of society and to Arabs and Jews.
