Zandberg Announces Bid For Meretz Leadership

Jerusalem, 11 January, 2018 (TPS) -- Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg said Thursday that she would run for leadership of the party.

“I’ve decided to run in order to help lift the party and the Israeli Left out of the slump they are in. It’s time to say things clearly: Meretz needs a new start, a new spirit and new leadership,” Zandberg said in a statement,

Zandberg said that under her leadership, Meretz, which currently holds five Knesset seats, could reach double-digit representation in the Knesset and become a relevant political player again.

“After years during which the Right has turned the Left into a punching bag, it’s time for us to fight back, it’s time to bring back the excitement and life force to the camp,” she wrote.

The 41 year-old MK has been in the Knesset since 2013 and is well known for representing the more progressive side of Meretz’s politics. She has forwarded the implementation of paternity leave, has founded and co-chaired the Lobby for Sustainable Transportation, headed a committee battling real-estate construction on Israel’s beaches, and made headlines when she put forward laws on decriminalising the personal use of cannabis

On Sunday, the Meretz convention approved with an 87 percent majority a motion promoted by current party Chair Zehava Gal-On, to allow the next chairperson to be selected in an open primary.  Previously, the party’s leader selected by a committee of 1,000 senior party members, an arrangement widely criticized by those who wished to see Meretz opening up to a larger crowd of potential voters.

In October, Gal-On announced that she would resign from the Knesset in order to devote her time and energy to opening up the party vote,  a move she has repeatedly said is crucial for the survival of Meretz. Gal-On will also vie for the party leadership in  in the March 22nd primary along with Meretz MK Ilan Gilon, and party activist Avi Dabush.

Gal-On congratulated Zandberg, saying:  “I pushed for primaries exactly for this reason – to allow for more people to run for the leadership of Meretz.”