Former Meretz chair Zehava Galon on Tuesday announced she is returning to politics and will run for leadership of Meretz.

Since current Meretz chair Nitzan Horowitz announced he is stepping down from leadership of the party, numerous Meretz members have called on Galon, who left politics in 2018, to return to lead the party. Recent polls show Meretz failing to pass the electoral threshold or barely passing through.

Galon will be running against Deputy Economy Minister Yair Golan, who announced his candidacy for the race earlier this month. Last week, Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg, who served as Meretz chair in the past, announced that she won’t be running for the next Knesset, and the week before, Regional Cooperation Minister Essawi Frej announced he was resigning from politics.

Shortly after her announcement, Galon told Channel 12 News that she is seeking to merge Meretz with Labor.

However, a merger is unlikely as Labor chair Merav Michaeli has repeatedly rebuffed prior calls to merge the two parties, fearing a loss of votes due to association with the far-left Meretz.

Galon told 103FM Radio on Wednesday that she feels responsible to try to thwart a return to power by opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu. “I realized that if I don’t do this [return to politics], and Netanyahu returns to power, I won’t be able to look at myself in the mirror,” she said.

“It’s no longer just about the fate of Meretz,” she added. “If Meretz doesn’t pass the threshold and the far-right theocratic, messianic Kahanist bloc wins, people will ask how I could leave the house.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)