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Meretz head Zehava Gal-on to resign after disastrous election loss

Party rival Yair Golan blamed the election failure on Gal-On and her “horrible campaign.”

By World Israel News Staff

Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On will resign next week after her party suffered a catastrophic defeat at the elections earlier this month, failing to pass the threshold to enter the Knesset for the first time in its 30-year-old history.

In the days following the election, Gal-On said: “This is a very difficult moment for me and my friends in Meretz. The election results are a disaster for us, a disaster for the country, and yes, also a personal disaster for me.”

Gal-On will meet with Meretz management next week and is expected to announce her next step, the party said in a statement.

“Gal-On will remain in her position at least until the end of the year and will continue to assist and act in party matters,” the statement said.

Party rival Yair Golan blamed the election failure on Gal-On and her “horrible campaign.”

Meretz member Isawi Frej told 103FM that it was the end of the road for the party which had “ended its historical role.”

“A house cannot be built again, a new house must be built. This house should include everyone who believes in the idea of a liberal left and the two-state solution,” he said, adding that he did not know who was fit to lead such a party.

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Meretz won 3.14% of the vote, missing the electoral threshold of 3.25%.

Golan said the “nightmare” of not making it into the Knesset became more apparent in the days leading up to the election.

Gal-On’s return to the party after four years was hailed by Palestinians, who congratulated her on the appointment.

Labor Party leader Merav Michaeli refused to run together with Meretz on a joint slate, costing her own party to fall from the seven seats it had in the short-lived Bennett-Lapid government to four this time around.