"I'm not happy that we got [an estimated] six seats, but it saved the party from death," said Marciano, the only Labor official who agreed to speak on the record immediately after exit polls were announced.

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Labor leader Amir Peretz kept away from the modest election headquarters in the Yad Eliyahu neighborhood of Tel Aviv.

Peretz knows that while he managed to keep the party out of the dustbin of history, he has a lot of work ahead of him.

A senior Labor official told Israel Hayom that there was "no chance" Labor would join a coalition with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Amir Peretz will keep his promise," the official said.

Approximately half an hour after exit polls were announced, Peretz sent a message to Labor activists.

"I ask that you wait until the final results are in, and all our friends at the polling places finish their work," he said.

"The media spent a month and a half slaughtering us," Marciano said.

"Right now is not the time to sum things up. … Amir Peretz was elected party leader two months ago. We got a party that was wrecked, with debts. A day after Peretz was elected, Shelly Yachimovich resigned, Tal Russo left, and [former leader] Avi Gabbay didn't do anything."

"[Ehud] Barak left, Stav Shafir left. Joining forces with Gesher was one of the good things that happened, and you'll see that in the end Orly Levy-Abekasis and her colleagues do a lot for us. We inherited a party that had a deficit of 8 million shekels [$2.3 million]," Marciano said.

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Recent weeks have seen Peretz attend dozens of political events in an effort to broaden Labor's electoral appeal, but despite his efforts and the alliance with MK Orly Levy-Abekasis' Gesher party, even the most favorable polls project Labor will secure, at best, seven mandates.

In a special interview with Israel Hayom, Peretz candidly speaks about Labor's dire state while lambasting Blue and White, the center-left faction headed by Benny Gantz and co-founder Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid.

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Blue and White was formed ahead of the April 9 elections as a union of Gantz's Israel Resilience Party, Yesh Atid, and Telem, headed by former defense minister Moshe Ya'alon. The faction's foursome of leaders also includes former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi.

While the faction proved a worthy adversary for Likud in April, winning 35 Knesset seats, heading into the final stretch of the September election campaign the growing discord among its four co-leaders has become increasingly public.

"This is a party devoid of ideological infrastructure. Everyone there is moving in a different direction," Peretz said of Blue and White. "They may have been able to hide it in the first act, but in the second act, it's harder to hide. What links [Yesh Atid MK] Yael German and [IRP MK] Zvika Hauser? Or Ya'alon, who wants to annex [Judea and Samaria] and [Yesh Atid whip] Ofer Shelah, who supports the two-state solution?"

Peretz said he believes that Lapid will push to disband the faction soon after the election.

"Blue and White is a party with an expiration date, and that will come immediately after the elections. The party is making a very public effort to hide the rifts within its ranks, and Lapid is highly unlikely to remain part of it. Blue and White will split back into three parties after the elections," he predicted.

Peretz further urged Labor voters who, frustrated by the party's own political discord, had voted for Blue and White in April, to return to the fold.

"I call on Labor voters who followed Blue and White thinking they will be able to replace [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu – you need to understand that it's not the size of the party that matters, but rather how large the bloc is. Unlike Blue and White, which only offers a chance to replace Netanyahu, we offer the opportunity to change his policies. We are the only ones to offer a socio-economic agenda, which many have criticized us for, but there is no difference between [Yamina member Naftali] Bennett and Lapid with respect to their socio-economic outlook."

Peretz further stressed that Lapid had refused his invitation to attend a public debate on economic issues not once, but twice.

But can Labor really improve its electoral outlook? Peretz believes that it can.

"The polls do affect the dynamics, but I propose waiting patiently there. We have a certain platform, which is very popular among younger voters and middle-class couples. Our objective is 15 mandates and I have no problem saying that."

"I hope that we take four seats from Blue and White, two from the Arab and Druze sectors, and three from the moderate Right. I estimate that half of the votes that went to Orly in the last election and half of the votes that went to [Finance Minister Moshe] Kahlon's [Kulanu] party will now go to us. So 15 mandates for Labor-Gesher is feasible."

"I won't be a presidential candidate in two years. I intend to dedicate my all to get Labor back to where it's supposed to be. It will be a long 10-year journey"

Over the past two decades, Labor has become notorious for its leaders' short terms in office.

"The party is in dire crisis. There no resources. There are debts. But the biggest crisis was how disheartened the activists are. Many were reluctant at first, but today we have thousands [like this]. We have to translate that into ballot [wins]," he said, criticizing his predecessor.

As for the recent departure of popular MK Stav Shaffir from Labor to the Democratic Union, Peretz sufficed with saying, "She ended up where she feels that she naturally belongs. I wish her the best of luck."

In recent years, Peretz's has often been mentioned as a presidential candidate for 2021, which is when President Reuven Rivlin's term in office will end.

"I had planned to run for president before the [second] election was announced and many approached me on the subject," he reveals.

"The majority of the Israeli public sees me as a person who is worthy of the presidency, especially given the rifts in society. But from the moment they called an election and I was elected Labor chairman, my mission is to rehabilitate the party. It will be a long 10-year journey. I won't be a presidential candidate in two years. I intend to dedicate my all to get Labor back to where it's supposed to be. I hope we can build the infrastructure in a short period of time so that we can succeed in the long run."

Peretz further defended the decision to join forces with Gesher, saying "The connection with Orly is amazing and it fosters positive energy. She is a courageous, inspired leader, who believes in a social revolution and advocates for peace."

"I reject any invocation of the 'ethnic demon' in this election campaign," he continued, using the Israeli term for the divide between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews. "We're waging a class struggle, because when you fight for raising the minimum wage, Russian and Ethiopian-speaking immigrants, Israeli Arabs and Jews can all relate to it. The party we have built, Labor-Gesher, is a political home for everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation."

But what if the opportunity arises to join a Netanyahu-led government with or without Levy-Abekasis?

"We're not discounting Likud, but we won't sit in a Netanyahu government," he said.

Commenting on the security tensions on the Israel-Gaza border, Peretz, who is credited for pushing for the development of the Iron Dome defense system during his short stint as defense minister, said, "There is unrest in all sectors. Netanyahu is perpetuating the situation in Gaza because he does not want to resolve the issue as a whole."

Hamas military leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, he said, "is well aware of Netanyahu's weaknesses and knows he can exploit them during election time. He [Sinwar] gets everything he wants and manages to send the message that the only thing Israel responds to is force. I prefer firing off words, not missiles. Iron Dome, which affords Netanyahu extraordinary diplomatic leeway, is not being used to promote a diplomatic solution."

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Peretz, a former defense minister who has also previously served as party leader, took just shy of half the votes (47%) in the party primaries, beating MKs Itzik Shmuli and Stav Shaffir, who evenly split the remainder.

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Shaffir congratulated her rival on his win, vowing that now the real battle can begin: "From tomorrow morning we are returning to the true struggle against the Right and replacing [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's corrupt reign."

As polls closed shortly after 10 p.m. the voter turnout rate stood at 45.6%, despite a last-minute push to keep the voting stations open longer amid countrywide protests over police brutality that led to mass traffic jams.

Peretz decided to postpone his victory celebrations due to protests across the country over the fatal shooting of Ethiopian Israeli teen Solomon Tekah by an off-duty police officer on Sunday.

"I've decided not to hold my victory celebration in light of the deep rift [in Israeli society] that is being intensified in front of our very eyes and the protest of the Ethiopian community. This outburst expresses the sense of discrimination they have been carrying for many years. Tomorrow we'll do everything that is required to reunite the party and make it a political home for all Israelis," Peretz said.

At one point Israel's most powerful political force, Labor in recent years has been devastated by internal division, poor voter turnout and a rightward shift among Israeli voters.

Former party leader Avi Gabbay resigned last month after April's general election saw the party sink to a historic low of just six seats in the 120-seat Knesset.

Both Shmuli and Shaffir entered the Knesset in 2013 after leading a social protest movement across the country, and have campaigned on their youth in an appeal to voters looking to turn the party in a new direction.

Peretz, who led Labor from 2005 to 2007, has painted himself as an experienced politician who possesses the clout needed to return the party to national prominence.

He is expected to begin as early as Wednesday to engage in talks with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak's new party and Meretz, in an effort to form a center-left bloc to contend in the upcoming snap election on September 17.

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