In an extraordinary turn of events, it now appears that there will be only one candidate on the ballot to lead the Histadrut in May.

As we have reported earlier, the candidacy of Eitan Cabel, who was challenging incumbent Ofer Eini, was at risk as Cabel did not appear to be a paid-up member of the Histadrut.

When it became evident that Cabel may have his candidacy disqualified, former Histadrut leader Amir Peretz announced he would stand — but would step down if Cabel’s candidacy was declared to be legitimate.

Now it seems as if both candidacies are at risk, as the Histadrut’s central elections committee ruled on Monday night that neither candidate had produced the requisite number of signatures to run for the post.

It was claimed that a significant number of signatures were forged, that others are from people who are ineligible to vote in Histadrut elections, and in many cases, people signed up to support both Cabel and Peretz - disqualifying their signatures in both cases.

A hearing will be held later this week at which Cabel and Peretz will make their cases.

More details on the Times of Israel website.