Israel’s Labour Party concedes defeat to Britney Spears ahead of leadership battle

Israel’s once-dominant Labour Party goes to the polls Tuesday to pick a leader to try to dislodge Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s second-longest-serving prime minister. But first it had to make sure voters didn’t defect to see Britney Spears.

Desperate to lift turnout among younger members, Labour’s elections committee postponed the primary by 24 hours to avoid a conflict with the American singer, who was expected to draw 50,000 fans to a July 3 concert at Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park.

“In a beauty contest between a bunch of shouting men and Britney, at least Labour is in touch enough to know what their voters might prioritise,” said Dahlia Scheindlin, a Tel Aviv-based public opinion consultant.

Labour’s biggest challenge is irrelevancy. Its roots stretch back well before Israel’s founding in 1948 and the party produced the first five prime ministers. The last Labour premier was Ehud Barak, who served less than two years and was unseated in 2001. The party’s current chairman, Isaac Herzog - whom Netanyahu clobbered in the 2015 election - is routinely eclipsed by more charismatic leaders of other opposition parties. Six challengers are snapping at his heels.

They are led by Amir Peretz, a former defence minister and ex-party leader who has topped most polls but is unlikely to reach the 40-per-cent threshold needed to avoid a run-off next week. The other major contenders are Erel Margalit, a lawmaker and founder of one of Israel’s biggest venture capital funds, and Avi Gabbay, previously chief executive of state-owned telecommunications company Bezeq Ltd. and a former environment minister.

Herzog, the 56-year-old son of sixth president Chaim Herzog, was elected party chairman in 2013. He’s struggled to project an image of authority while criticising the government for letting peace efforts with the Palestinians crumble.