By DPA
Tel Aviv : Former premier and army chief of staff Ehud Barak was ahead in the first round of elections to choose the new leader of Israel's Labour Party, local media reported early Tuesday morning after counting of nearly all ballots.
However, none of the candidates reached the necessary 40 percent of the vote in the primary on Monday.
Barak was ahead with 35.7 percent of the votes and the candidate who had been leading in opinion polls, former Shin Bet internal security organization chief Ami Ayalon, pulled in 30.7 percent.
Current Labour Party leader Amir Peretz was, as expected, behind with only 22.3 percent of the votes.
The election turnout was 65 per cent and the second round will be held June 12.
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