Israel’s left-wing parties on Monday announced a political merger that would see them run under one party list ahead of the March 2 elections.
Labor-Gesher leader Amir Peretz and the head of the Meretz party Nitzan Horowitz said the allience’s official letters will be “Emet” (truth) associated with the Labor faction.
The new faction's list will be headed by Peretz, with the head of the Gesher party, Orly Levy-Abekasis acting as number two. Meretz leader Horowitz is set to be third on the party list.
Out of the 11 places on the list, six are set to be reserved for lawmakers from Labor and five for Meretz.
In the September national vote, Meretz also ran as part of an alliance with Ehud Barak’s Democratic Israel party and former Labor MK Stav Shaffir.
Although Shaffir is not expected to be part of the newly formed faction, MK Yair Golan from Democratic Israel is set to be part of the list at the expense of one of the five places allocated for Meretz.
"This is the most significant move of the 2020 campaign that will guarantee the ability to form a government of change and hope after the elections,” said the newly formed faction in a statement.
“We intend to emphasize the gospel of this union and the hope we have for political change that will be the heart and political compass of the next government once the Netanyahu's era is over."
Labor MK Merav Michaeli voiced her support for the merger. "We promised to do all we can to replace Netanyahu's dangerous right-wing government," said Michaeli. “The unification of the left wing will save Israel and will help keep the country a free, democratic, Zionist state for the Jewish people."
Meretz MK Ilan Gilon reiterated the sentiments, saying he has been pushing for the two parties to work together “for quite some time."
“It's a partnership that will spark the flames of hope for a just society, and for a country that strives for peace."