Zahava Gal-On informed the Knesset Speaker of her resignation from the Knesset in order to concentrate on her role as Meretz chairman and lead open primaries.

Meretz Chairman Zahava Gal-On on Wednesday, 28 Tishrei informed Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein that she is resigning from the Knesset in order to devote the next few months to her position as Meretz chairman, in order to change the electoral system and lead open primaries.

Gal-On says she has reached the understanding that she must work full-time as chairman of the party and invest all her time in the struggle to increase Meretz’s powerbase by opening the ranks to new audiences. Mossi Raz will serve in the Meretz faction in the Knesset and will serve as secretary-general of the party.

In a letter to party members, Gal-On wrote: “Meretz cannot exist as a closed club that ignores you – its voters and supporters – and blocks the possibility of additional forces participating in our struggle to inject new blood on the left.”

“I love the Knesset, but I love Meretz more, and I know that if Meretz does not open, Meretz will not be. The left has a large and far larger audience than the number of people who voted for Meretz. In order to realize this potential, Meretz must change. I am convinced that my resignation from the Knesset will enable me, as chairman of Meretz, to focus on promoting ‘open primaries’ and turning Meretz into a big house and containing all those who believe in our values.

Gal-On spent most of her years in the Knesset in the opposition, and never served as a member of the government. Despite this, she was repeatedly elected to the lists that affect the Israeli economy, the LGBT community, the Movement for Quality Government, and won the struggle to dismantle centralization and fight against government capital. She is also a recipient of the Ometz Prize and the President’s Award for Combating Human Trafficking.

Gal-On wrote: “I leave the Knesset with a heavy heart, I love this work, and to be a public team is an unparalleled mission and a privilege that I am grateful for every day … I am proud of the achievements I have had in the 16 years I have represented in the struggle for equality and justice, women and the gay community, for the rights of Palestinians in Israel and the territories, against economic corruption and centralization in the economy in order to close social gaps, human rights and right-wing governments determined to eliminate democratic characteristics in Israel

On Thursday, October 26, elections will be held at Meretz branches in which the party’s delegates and party members will elect the new conference delegates. At the end of December, Gal-On will present a proposal for a new conference to change the electoral system for open primaries, which will allow all Meretz supporters to decide who will be the chairman of the party and who will run for the Knesset”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)