"Today begins the long journey toward bringing back level-headed, responsible, and experienced leadership to the State of Israel," newly elected Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak told cheering supporters Wednesday morning.
Final results showed that Barak won the Labor Party run-off with 51.3 percent of the vote.
It was a bitter defeat for Ami Ayalon, who thought he had the two-man race sewn up after securing the support of Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who had garnered more than 20% of the vote in the first round.
But it turned out that the embrace of Amir Peretz did not translate into victory for Ayalon. Either Peretz supporters didn't vote for him, or Peretz' support drove Ayalon supporters into the arms of Barak.
Barak tried to appear gracious in victory. "Today our journey together beings," he said. "In this journey we will seek the uniting, the common, the constructive and the linking factors.
"We will do this out of a sense of mission, and basic commitment to the existence of the Israeli society, and the security of the State of Israel, the home of the Jewish people, its historic fortress, the homeland of our people."
Barak made his speech before the final results were in, in the shadow of accusations of forgeries, and a petition filed by Ayalon's headquarters to the appeals courts.
"There is no leadership without the public's faith. In days of anxiety, a lack of security, despair and loss of leadership, the Labor Party must take control as the head of the democratic alternative in the State of Israel.
"In our joint path we will march, shoulder-to-shoulder, with our arms joined, with all the constructive powers in the country. We have the best team, the most experienced group that any party in Israeli politics has."
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