Rabin Defeats Peres in Israel Opposition Vote : Politics: His margin apparently avoids a runoff and makes him Labor candidate for prime minister in June.

Yitzhak Rabin, the war hero and former prime minister trying to stamp Israel’s beleaguered Labor Party with a more muscular image, appeared to have barely avoided a runoff in Wednesday’s first-ever primary election here and should become Labor’s candidate for prime minister in the scheduled June elections.

Rabin topped the list of four candidates with 40.48% of 106,000 votes cast. That was just above the 40% needed for outright victory--unless an official protest or recount alters the results today, when a committee meets to review the ballots.

Shimon Peres, the incumbent party chairman, came in second with 34.36%. Labor union leader Yisrael Kessar won about 20%.

“Let’s wait,” said a cautious Rabin as the vote count dragged on well past midnight.

Despite his reluctance to declare victory, Rabin acted like the winner. He invited Peres to take a place on the list of parliamentary candidates as No. 2 to Rabin and wooed Kessar, whose unexpectedly strong showing revealed the electorate’s interest in economic issues.

Wednesday’s race turned not so much on policy differences between Rabin and Peres but on the perception that Rabin is the more electable of the two. Polls suggest that Rabin will present a formidable challenge to Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and his Likud Party in the June elections.

In Israel, the party that wins the most seats in the parliamentary election usually wins the chance to form a government; the head of the victorious party’s list of candidates becomes prime minister.

Rabin, in the primary campaign, played on the fear of another election loss, saying before the vote, “Today’s election will determine whether Labor returns to power . . . or has to spend four more years in opposition. I believe I have the best chance of defeating Likud. This is because of my experience as chief of staff, defense minister and, of course, the mood of voters in my favor.”

The aloof, slow-talking Rabin projected himself as a leader who can safeguard Israel’s security and who can make real compromises for peace. This dual appeal is designed to undermine Likud’s customary electoral tactic of branding Labor--especially under Peres--as soft on Arabs and, therefore, unable to cut a safe deal in Middle East peace talks. Growing dissatisfaction with high unemployment is expected to boost Rabin’s chances.

A Rabin candidacy probably would be viewed as a blessing by the Bush Administration. Washington has long considered Rabin a leader capable of bridging the gap between Labor’s traditional dovish leanings and Israel’s preoccupation with strength.

In line with Administration policy, Rabin favors giving up at least some land in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in exchange for peace with the Palestinians and the Arab world. He is unlikely to endorse the surrender of all land won by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War.

From 1988 to 1990, when Labor and Likud were locked into a coalition, U.S. officials encouraged Rabin’s efforts to maneuver Shamir into a more compromising stand on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Rabin wrote an election plan for the West Bank and Gaza that formed the basis of President Bush’s first attempt to get peace talks under way. Secretary of State James A. Baker III, in a preview of broader efforts he would make later, tried to get Shamir and Palestinians to sign on to the election proposal, which Shamir ultimately dismissed.

Rabin was a career soldier who fought in the Israeli independence war of 1948; he led Israel to a smashing victory in the 1967 Middle East War. His one term as prime minister, which began in 1974, was cut short by a scandal involving an illegal foreign bank account held by his wife.

His tough-on-Arabs image comes not only from his military career but also from his service as defense minister in the first two years of the Arab uprising in the West Bank and Gaza. His policy of “force, power and blows” to put down the Palestinian revolt earned criticism abroad but won him a reputation for sternness at home.