Country’s largest labor union holds leadership vote

The powerful Histadrut labor union was holding its general elections on Tuesday, with polls for the half-a-million members open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. at over 2,000 voting stations around the country.

Incumbent Ofer Eini was defending his leadership position against challenger and Labor MK Eitan Cabel. The elections will also determine the delegates at the Histadrut Convention and leadership of the Naamat women’s organization.

The Histadrut labor union, founded in 1920, grew to be one of the most powerful institutions in both Mandate-era Palestine and Israel.

Although the influence of organized labor has waned in recent years, the Histadrut’s huge membership insures its ability to call paralyzing strikes when it deems necessary.

Cabel was hoping that Eini’s lukewarm support of last summer’s social justice protests, and relative reluctance to use the weapon of strikes, would cause voters to shift their allegiance. He campaigned as an energized alternative to the incumbent, who he tried to paint as a lackey of Israel’s business tycoons.

Eini meanwhile pointed to Cabel’s lack of experience. In media interviews Tuesday morning, Eini said he was confident of winning by a landslide.