 After making serious allegations of racial discrimination against him due to being Sephardi, Ben Eliezer was forced to agree to another round of primaries.During the period of time between the decision to hold another primary and the primaries themselves, which were set for 19 November 2002, the Labor party withdrew from the unity government, which led to rumors that the main reason they withdrew was due to the considerations regarding the primaries.The primaries were eventually won by Amram Mitzna, who at that point in time was the mayor of Haifa.