Most Labor voters favor Yachimovich

Most Labor party voters favor incumbent party chair MK Shelly Yachimovich over MK Yitzhak Herzog as party leader by a sizable margin, according to the results of a poll commissioned by journalist Nissim Mishal ahead of leadership elections in the party later this month.

The results, which were broadcast on Channel 2 on Thursday afternoon, showed that 64.4 percent of Labor voters prefer Yachimovich as chairwoman, while 35.6% prefer her challenger, Herzog.

A separate poll, this time conducted among the general public, showed most Israelis would prefer to see Herzog head the Labor party, rather than Yachimovich.

Some 54% percent said they favor Herzog over Yachimovich, while 46% percent expressed support for Yachimovich.

Pollster Israel Bachar, who has worked with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the past, attributed the discrepancy between the results of the two polls to the fact that Herzog is supported by voters of center and center-left parties such as Yesh Atid and Hatnua, who indicated they might vote for a Labor party led by Herzog.

Yachimovich was quick to react to the results, sharing the results of the first poll on her official Facebook page.

“Even with all the limitations polls have, I see these [results] as reinforcement that gives me a lot of energy and support on the complex path on which I am leading [the party],” Yachimovich said.

While Bachar said the results reflected “an overwhelming vote of confidence in Yachimovich,” Herzog interpreted them differently.

The poll “confirms what we have said since the start of the race,” he wrote in a statement.

“Under my leadership, the Labor party will bring back the hundreds of thousands of Yesh Atid, Meretz and Kadima voters who have left us. Under my leadership, the Labor party will challenge the government,” he added.