The newly elected leader of Israel’s Labour party, Amir Peretz, is so attached to his trademark walrus moustache that he refuses to shave it off … unless the facial hair issue is put to a referendum.
“This trademark doesn’t just belong to me any more. It is no longer my personal property. It is public property,” he told Israel’s populist Yediot Aharonot newspaper in an interview published on Friday.
“And if people want my moustache to be shaved off, they will have to hold a referendum,” he was quoted as saying.
The Moroccan-born Peretz is the first unionist to lead the Labour party and represents a less powerful strata of society than the traditional non-immigrant military and Ashkenazi elite.
The 53-year-old will become Labour’s candidate for prime minister in the next general election, likely to be fast-tracked to early 2006. — AFP