February 26 2006. In a visit to the Shama settlement in southern Mount Hebron, during an intensive election campaign, Labor Party chairman Amir Peretz found a moment’s rest on a rock at the outskirts of the settlement. Having served as a workers’ representative for years, Peretz carried the social banner in the campaign, and the party he headed won 19 mandates. Eventually Peretz was appointed defense minister in the government of Ehud Olmert; a short time later the two led Israel in the war against Hizballah.