Meretz leader Tamar Zandberg
Photo: Motti Kimchi
New Meretz chief under review for campaign irregularities
State Comptroller Yosef Shapira to examine alleged clandestine ties by newly elected Meretz leader Tamar Zandberg and strategy adviser Moshe Klughaft for possible party finance law breaches; Zandberg maintains Klughaft—who previously managed Naftali Bennett's Bayit Yehudi campaign—was not employed by her camp but merely provided unsolicited advice.
State Comptroller Yosef Shapira will examine whether the consultation that strategy adviser Moshe Klughaft
provided newly elected
Meretz leader Tamar Zandberg conforms with party financing laws, and whether it was duly reported as the law mandates.
In a statement put out on her behalf Saturday, Zandberg said, "My successful campaign was presided over by Nissim Duek and the Unik company that he heads. Several talented people gave advice from experience during the campaign, one of whom was Moshe Klughaft, who contacted me on his own initiative to share his experience of the generational revolution he instated at Bayit Yehudi.
It was first reported Saturday that Klughaft, who had thus far advised right-wing parties, and managed Naftali Bennett's Bayit Yehudi campaign, was employed in Zandberg's Meretz primary campaign when she ran against Avi Buskila.
Zandberg, who had previously disavowed any ties to Klughaft, later changed tack to say he was not employed by her campaign.
Newly elected Meretz chief Zandberg initially denied having any ties to Klughaft and later admitted to consulting with him, but said he was not employed by her campaign (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
"Contrary to reports, Klughaft was never employed or worked for the campaign," the statement concluded.
This past Thursday, and after a months' long campaign during which two of Meretz's seasoned leadership figures—former chairperson Zehava Gal-On and MK Ilan Gilon—bowed out of the race, Zandberg was selected to head her party in the coming years by a significant margin.
Channel 2 News reported Sunday that Klughaft was indeed employed by the Zandberg camp, which the party chief vehemently denied. "As one who has served as focus for right-wing attacks, I know how to fight back," she said.
"I have not cast aside my friends on the Left, nor will I do so. I will stand in solidarity with my friends in the face of the right-wing attack," she vowed, adding, "The story received absurdly disproportionate coverage."
Political consultant Moshe Klughaft (Photo: Ze'ev Yanai)
Nissim Duek, for his part, tweeted, "When Ran Aharon and I won the (Labor Party struggle) between (Isaac Herzog) and Shelly (Yachimovich), Sefi Shaked gave an interview and stole the credit. When we won with Zandberg in Meretz, Klughaft gave an interview and stole the credit.
"I forgave Sefi, but Klughaft is a dangerous man. He's the Left's greatest enemy, and his actions can have no atonement. I did not have and will not have any ties to him for as long as I breathe."
Zionist Union Chairman Avi Gabbay tweeted as well, saying, "Zandberg tried to run an entire campaign on me and the Labor Party. This evening it became clear—it wasn't her but Klughaft, for whom this is the second campaign against me.
"He's not merely a 'strategy adviser,' but a propagandist responsible for radicalizing political discourse in a dangerous way, towards the fascist 'foreign moles' campaign and the unbridled attempt to paint the Left as 'traitors.' If this is the new Meretz, it had better not surpass the electoral threshold."
