A leadership election was held on 3 June 1965 to elect the leader of Mapai. It saw the party's Central Committee vote to reelect incumbent party leader and prime minister Levi Eshkol, with Eshkol defeating former party leader and former prime minister David Ben-Gurion. Ben-Gurion challenged Eshkol, who had been his hand-picked successor two years prior, after a feud arose between them regarding Ben-Gurion’s desire for there to be a new investigation into the Lavon Affair. After losing the leadership election, Ben-Gurion broke away from Mapai and created the Rafi party.

Levi Eshkol, born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik, was an Israeli statesman who served as the third Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. A founder of the Israeli Labor Party, he served in numerous senior roles, including Minister of Defense (1963–1967) and Minister of Finance (1952–1963).