Editing Shimon Peres (section)

===Unsuccessful February 1977 campaign for Labor Party leader===
{{main|February 1977 Israeli Labor Party leadership election}}

In February 1977, Peres challenged Prime Minister Rabin for the leadership of Labor Party, but lost to Rabin in a narrow 50.72% to 49.28% result in the vote by the party's Central Committee.<ref name="Kenig"/><ref name = NYTdeath /><ref name="closeracetypifies">{{cite web |last1=Eliason |first1=Marcus |title=Close race for party leadership typifies political challenges in Israel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/117921278 |via=Newspapers.com |work=Arizona Republic |agency=The Associated Press |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=21 February 1977 |access-date=27 May 2022 |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816020014/http://www.newspapers.com/image/117921278/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="parks1">{{cite news |last1=Parks |first1=Michael |title=Rabin wins renomination for Israeli premiership |via=Newspapers.com |work=The Baltimore Sun |language=en |date=24 February 1977}}:
*{{cite web |last1=Parks |first1=Michael |title=Rabin wins renomination for Israeli premiership |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/373227680 |via=Newspapers.com |work=The Baltimore Sun |access-date=7 February 2022 |language=en |url-access=subscription |page=1 |date=24 February 1977 |archive-date=25 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125193609/http://www.newspapers.com/image/373227680/ |url-status=live }}
*{{cite web |last1=Parks |first1=Michael |title=Israeli party renominates Rabin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/373227773 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The Baltimore Sun |page=4 |access-date=7 February 2022 |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=24 February 1977 |archive-date=25 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125193607/http://www.newspapers.com/image/373227773/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The leadership election was expected to determine who would lead the party into the [[1977 Knesset election]]. This was at moment when Labor was threatened with the prospect of losing its control of government after 28-consecutive years due to the rise of both the [[right-wing]] [[Likud]] bloc and the [[Centrism|centrist]] [[Democratic Movement for Change]], which were seen as collectively cutting into the Labor Party's support in the upcoming election. At the time, Rabin and Peres presented little policy difference, with Peres being seen as only slightly to the right of Rabin on domestic matters. Instead of positioning himself in contrast to the incumbent Rabin on policy, Peres instead capitalized off of the political atmosphere and staked his candidacy largely on an argument that the Labor Party needed to satisfy the nation's desire for change by choosing a new leader for itself.<ref name="closeracetypifies"/>