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By Jacqueline van den Driest

Israeli Labor Party members on Tuesday elected veteran lawmaker Amir Peretz as their new leader as the political faction looks to revitalize itself ahead of the September national election.

Peretz faced off against the younger generation of the party’s youngest members of Israeli Parliament (Knesset), Itzik Shmuli and Stav Shaffir, emerging victorious in the political faction looking to revitalize itself ahead of elections.

Shaffir congratulated her rival on his win, vowing that now the real battle can begin: "From tomorrow morning we are returning to the true struggle against the right and replacing Netanyahu's corrupt reign." As polls closed shortly after 10pm, the voter turnout rate stood at 45.6% despite a last minute push to keep the polls open longer amid huge protests against police brutality that led to mass traffic jams in the country.

In the evening Peretz announced that he would forego the celebration of his victory following the protest by members of the Ethiopian Israeli community. "This evening is a very exciting evening for me and I feel the weight of the responsibility on my shoulders. This evening should bring hope to the hearts of all the peace and social justice-loving citizens, and I thank all those who supported as well as those who supported the other candidates, Itzik Shmuli and Stav Shafir who are an important part of the leadership of the party and its future,” said Peretz.

“I decided not to hold a celebration of the victory because of the deep social rift that is intensifying before our eyes. The protest of the Ethiopian Israelis is an expression of the longstanding feeling of discrimination that they carry with them. Tomorrow we will carry out all the necessary actions to unite the party and turn it into a political home for every Israeli,” he added.

At one point Israel’s most powerful political force, Israel’s Labor Party has recently been devastated by internal division, poor voter turnout and a rightward shift among Israeli voters.

In April, the party saw its worst performance in electoral history, dropping from 24 Knesset seats under the banner of the Zionist Union to six mandates, gaining just 4% of the national vote. The dismal showing immediately lead to a backlash against Labor leader Avi Gabbay, who last month announced his resignation as the party’s chairman.