Labor’s Michaeli to quit politics, party to hold leadership vote in April

Labor party chief Merav Michaeli announces her planned resignation from political life and her intention to step down as leader of the left-wing party.

Labor will hold early leadership primaries in April, Michaeli will not run for its leadership, and she will quit Knesset at the end of her current term, she says in a statement to the press in Tel Aviv.

Her move comes a year after being blamed for the failure of the left in recent elections.

Commentators on Channel 12 react to the news by saying her decision came “too late,” a year after her refusal to join forces with left-wing Meretz led to Meretz narrowly missing the vote threshold necessary to enter Knesset, helping Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put together a hard-right coalition.

Since then Labor has consistently failed to cross the election threshold in polling.