TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Vice Premier Shimon Peres and the Labor Federation's leader Amir Peretz were late Wednesday night running neck and neck in the primaries for the Labor Party's leadership.
At midnight, following a count of a quarter of the ballot boxes, Peres had 43 percent of the votes and Peretz 41. The third contestant, former Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, was trailing far behind. Peres seemed to maintain a steady, but small lead, Israel Radio reported.
The vote could immediately affect Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government and lead to early elections.
Under Peres, the Labor Party has been Sharon's loyal coalition partner. It joined the government to facilitate the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of four settlements in the northern West Bank, and has stayed in the government after that was completed.
Peretz said that if he wins, "Tomorrow morning... I shall inform the prime minister that the Labor Party intends to break away."
A split would surely lead to early elections unless Sharon veers to the right in an attempt to co-opt the hawkish parties who fought him bitterly for more than a year.
Peretz said he would seek early elections, preferably "in an agreement. If Sharon will not agree on a date I shall form a majority in the Knesset to advance elections and go on to the real battle."
The voting pattern suggested a "racial division." Ashkenazi Jews, whose families came from Europe and are usually more affluent, voted for Peres, himself an Ashkenazi Jew who lives in an expensive neighborhood in north Tel Aviv. Jews whose families came from Arab countries and are poorer usually voted for the Moroccan born Peretz, a resident of the development town of Sderot near the Gaza Strip.
Peres has been focusing on peace and security issues while Peretz focused on social issues and the poor people's plight trying to turn Labor into a social-democratic party, analysts said.
