Labor reviving under new female leader?

M.K. Shelly Yachimovitch

Polls indicate Labor reviving under its newly elected leader, Shelly Yachimovitch, a 51 year-old former journalist; neck & neck in strength with Tzipi Livni's Kadima, each party draws a projection of about 22 Knesset seats, apparently vying for second place to Netanyahu's Likud party.  And now both Labor and Kadima are led by women. 

Yachimovitch is reportedly supportive of the new popular protest movement for social justice (as opposed to the more conservative or neo-liberal Livni).  It remains to be seen what all this will mean for Meretz, also led by a woman in the Knesset, Zehava Gal-on.  If it were my call, I'd urge a merger or new alignment for Meretz with Labor, but I'm not sure that Labor would see this to its advantage.

BTW, Ehud Barak's Independence party, which split from Labor in the past year to remain in Netanyahu's governing coalition, also has a woman as its parliamentary leader, Einat Wilf.