Haim Ramon is a centrist within the Labour Party, and given his distant relationship with Mr Barak, he would not be tainted by the prime minister's political failures.

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Furthermore, Makor Rishon's senior columnist Amnon Lord reported last Friday that Kadima heavyweight Haim Ramon met with one of Obama's senior Middle East advisors ahead of Biden's visit.

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But the popular response to the unilateralist thesis enunciated by such senior figures as Haim Ramon and Shlomo Ben-Ami was too strong for Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the party's chairman, to withstand.

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As for Labour itself, the party's hopes of a relatively quick two-horse leadership race have been dashed by the surprise refusal of a third contender, Haim Ramon, to withdraw from the contest.

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This was the argument made recently, to mixed reactions, by Haim Ramon, the minister without portfolio and a close ally of Mr Barak's, at an acerbic session with liberal Jewish leaders in New York.

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