after the elected mayor was forced to step aside, due to incompetence. Mitzna resigned from the Knesset to take up the role. In April 2008 and June 2009, Mitzna signed letters of support for the recently created J Street American pro-peace lobby group. Mitzna ran for the leadership of the Labor party a second time in 2011. he won 12% of the vote in the first round and was eliminated. he endorsed Amir Peretz in the second round. On 1 December 2012, Mitzna joined Tzipi Livni's new party, Hatnuah. He was elected to the Knesset in second place on the party's list in the 2013 elections. On 24 December 2014 he announced he was retiring from politics and would not seek re-election in 2015, although he supported the Zionist Union, an alliance of Hatnuah and Labor that had been formed for the elections. References External links Amram Mitzna - Labor Haaretz Amram Mitzna Jewish Virtual Library Official website (Hebrew) Amram Mitzna 1945 births Living people Hebrew Reali School alumni Harvard University alumni Mayors of Haifa Israeli generals Jewish Israeli politicians Recipients of the Medal of Distinguished Service Israeli Labor Party leaders Hatnua politicians Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israeli people of German-Jewish descent University of Haifa alumni Leaders of the Opposition (Israel) Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015)