Ex-journalists prominent on Israel Labor list

Six former journalists, including party chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich, figure among the top 25 labor candidates who will be running in the Jan. 22 parliamentary race. The party held its primary on Thursday and released the list of candidates on Friday.

Many of the former journalists in Labor's ranks are social activists who think the government should be doing more to help the middle and lower classes. Yachimovich, a former TV and radio commentator, has revitalized the flagging party, which led Israel to independence in 1948, by refocusing its emphasis on the country's social and economic problems.

Several leaders of last year's grass-roots social protests, which drew hundreds of thousands of Israelis into the streets, were also voted into top positions on the Labor slate.

Polls showing Labor winning about 19 of parliament's 120 seats, compared to the party's current eight. That would make it the second-largest party after the Likud Beiteinu list headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.