Meretz
Meretz was a political party in Israel. It originated as an alliance of the Ratz, Mapam, and Shinui parties in 1992 and became a unified party in 1997.
Meretz identified as a social democratic and secular party. Its platform emphasized support for a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, human rights, religious freedom, and environmentalism. While Meretz’s three predecessor parties were Zionist, the party’s own position on Zionism has been disputed.
Meretz was a member of the Progressive Alliance and Socialist International, and was an observer member of the Party of European Socialists. The party achieved its highest electoral result in the 1992 Israeli legislative election, winning 12 seats in the Knesset. During most of the early 21st century, it held between three and six seats.
In the 2022 Israeli legislative election, it failed to pass the electoral threshold and did not gain representation in the Knesset, the only time this occurred in its history. In 2024, Meretz merged the Israeli Labor Party to establish a new political party, The Democrats.
History
As an alliance (1992–1997)
Meretz was established prior to the 1992 Israeli legislative election as an alliance of the Ratz, Mapam, and Shinui parties. It was initially led by Shulamit Aloni, founder and chairwoman of Ratz and a long-serving member of the Knesset. The name Meretz was formed as an acronym combining Mapam and Ratz. Although Shinui was not included in the acronym, it was referenced in the party’s campaign slogan: .In the 1992 election, Meretz won twelve seats, an increase from the combined ten seats that the three constituent parties had won in 1988. This result made Meretz the third-largest party in the Knesset. It became the major coalition partner of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s Labor Party and played a role in advancing the Oslo Accords. Members of Meretz held several ministerial positions: Shulamit Aloni was appointed Minister of Education, but after disagreements over the role of religion in education, she was reassigned in May 1993 as Minister Without Portfolio. In June 1993, she became Minister of Communications and Minister of Science and Technology, later renamed Minister of Science and the Arts. Amnon Rubinstein, Shinui leader and co-founder, served as Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Minister of Science and Technology, and later Minister of Education, Culture, and Sport. Yossi Sarid of Ratz was appointed Minister of the Environment, and Mapam leader Yair Tzaban became Minister of Immigrant Absorption.
Before the 1996 Israeli general election, Aloni was defeated by Sarid in an internal leadership contest and subsequently retired from political life.
For the election campaign, Meretz used the song Shir LaShalom, which had been sung at a rally minutes before Yitzhak Rabin was shot and killed by a far-right extremist. The party adapted a line of the song for its slogan, . Meretz stressed it was the only coalition partner that would keep Labor on a positive path. While Meretz supported Shimon Peres's bid to become the first directly elected prime minister, they warned that a second ballot for the Labor Party would lead to a Labor-Shas coalition, which would be vulnerable to the right wing.
In the election, Meretz lost three seats, and a right-wing government was formed when Benjamin Netanyahu was directly elected as prime minister.
Merger and decline (1997–2003)
In 1997, the three founding parties formally merged to form a single political entity. While Rubinstein supported the merger, most Shinui members opposed it. A faction of Shinui, led by Rubinstein, joined the new party, while the remainder, under Avraham Poraz, re-established Shinui as an independent party. In 1999, David Zucker left Meretz to serve as an independent member.In 1999, Yossi Sarid was reelected as leader of Meretz in an internal leadership election conducted through a vote of party convention delegates.
The election preceded the 1999 Israeli general election. During the campaign, Meretz used the slogan, , and made it a core campaign point to overtake them to become the third party. They also criticised other parties in the centre-left bloc for being 'single issue' and siphoning votes from them.
In the election, the party increased its representation to ten seats. Among those elected was Hussniya Jabara, who became the first female Palestinian citizen of Israel to serve as a member of the Knesset. However, Meretz did not achieve their goal of beating Shas. Nevertheless, Meretz joined Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s coalition government. Sarid was appointed Minister of Education, Ran Cohen became Minister of Industry and Trade, and Haim Oron was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
After Likud leader Ariel Sharon defeated Barak in the 2001 Israeli prime ministerial election, Meretz found itself out of a coalition again. On 22 October 2002, Amnon Rubinstein retired from the Knesset, and Uzi Even, next on the Meretz list, entered parliament, becoming the first openly gay member of the Knesset. His appointment drew mixed reactions, particularly from Haredi parties.
For the 2003 Israeli legislative election, Meretz ran a joint list with Roman Bronfman’s Democratic Choice. The party’s representation declined to six seats. Sarid assumed responsibility for the result and resigned as party leader, though he continued to serve as a Knesset member until his retirement before the 2006 Israeli legislative election.
Yachad (2003–2006)
In December 2003, Meretz merged with Yossi Beilin’s non-parliamentary Shahar movement. The intended name for the new party, Ya’ad, was abandoned due to concerns that it resembled the Russian word for "poison" and might alienate Russian-speaking voters. The name Yachad was chosen instead. It also served as a Hebrew acronym for "Social Democratic Israel". The merger aimed to unify the dovish Zionist camp, which had experienced a significant decline in electoral strength amidst the Second Intifada. Although the merger included Meretz, Shahar, and Democratic Choice, other targeted movements declined to join. Party membership fell to approximately 20,000, about half the size of its 1999 membership.In March 2004, Yossi Beilin was elected the first chairman of Yachad, defeating Ran Cohen. In July 2005, the party adopted the name Meretz-Yachad, following opinion polls showing that the public was more familiar with the name Meretz. Beilin opposed dropping Yachad entirely, and a compromise name was adopted.
2006–2022
In the 2006 elections, the party reverted to using the name Meretz with the slogan "Meretz on the left, the Human in the center,” and its representation fell to five seats.In 2007, Tzvia Greenfield, sixth on the party list, entered the Knesset following Beilin’s retirement, becoming the first female Haredi member of the Knesset. In March 2008, an internal leadership election was held. Candidates included Yossi Beilin, Zehava Galon, Ran Cohen, and Haim Oron. Beilin later withdrew and endorsed Oron, who won the election on 18 March 2008 with 54.5% of the vote, defeating Cohen and Galon.
On 22 December 2008, Meretz completed a merger with Hatnua HaHadasha in preparation for the 2009 Israeli legislative election.
The joint Meretz–Hatnua HaHadasha list won three seats in the election. The decline in support was largely attributed to progressive Zionist voters casting strategic ballots for the Kadima party, aiming to help Tzipi Livni form a government instead of Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Following the election, some party members called for the resignation of party chairman Haim Oron and advocated for Zehava Galon to assume leadership. Oron resigned from the Knesset on 23 March 2011 and subsequently stepped down as party leader.
A leadership contest was held, with Zehava Galon, Ilan Gilon, and youth activist Ori Ophir competing for the position. In the primaries on 7 February 2012, Galon was elected party chair with 60.6% of the vote, followed by Gilon with 36.6% and Ophir with 2.8%. In the 2013 Israeli legislative election, Meretz received 4.5% of the national vote and won six Knesset seats.
On 8 December 2014, Meretz signed a surplus-vote agreement with the Labor Party for the upcoming 2015 legislative election, the latter set to contest the election as the Zionist Union. On 19 January 2015, Meretz held its primaries at a meeting of its 1,000-member central committee in the Tel Aviv Convention Center: Zehava Galon was re-elected party leader, whilst MK Nitzan Horowitz chose not to stand for re-election.
Ahead of the 2015 Israeli legislative election, Meretz signed a surplus-vote agreement with the Labor Party, which ran as part of the Zionist Union. After early election results suggested that Meretz’s representation would drop to four seats, Galon announced her intention to resign as chairperson and from the Knesset to make room for Tamar Zandberg, the fifth-place candidate. However, once absentee and soldier ballots were counted, Meretz gained a fifth seat, and Galon rescinded her resignation.
Zandberg was elected party leader in 2018. In February 2019, Meretz held its first open primary, with 86% of party members participating. Ilan Gilon placed first and was ranked second on the Knesset slate after Zandberg. Michal Rozin placed second, followed by Issawi Frej and Ali Salalha. In the April 2019 Israeli legislative election, Meretz won four seats.
Ahead of the September 2019 Israeli legislative election, Meretz formed an electoral alliance called the Democratic Union with Ehud Barak’s Israel Democratic Party and breakaway Labor MK Stav Shaffir. The alliance, approved on 29 July 2019, won five seats, three of which were held by Meretz members. Before the 2020 Israeli legislative election, Meretz entered a new alliance with Labor and Gesher, which won seven seats, including three for Meretz.