Israel’s Labour party will join with the veteran party Meretz after seeing their combined seats in the 120-seat Knesset diminish from 29 to 11.
Israel’s left-wing parties say they will join forces ahead of a March 2 national election to regain dwindling influence in parliament and pose a fresh challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Labour, which dominated Israeli politics for decades and spearheaded peace efforts with the Palestinians, will join with the veteran party Meretz after seeing their combined seats in the 120-seat Knesset diminish from 29 to 11 after two inconclusive elections this year.
Many of their voters have defected to the upstart centrist party Blue and White, led by former general Benny Gantz which is the main challenger to Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud.
The change in the political landscape coincides with a squabble among lawmakers over an immunity request submitted by Netanyahu, who is under indictment in three criminal cases.
Netanyahu and Gantz failed to form governing coalitions after April and September votes, plunging the country towards an unprecedented third election in less than a year.
The new left-wing alliance will be headed by Labour’s Amir Peretz, a former defence minister who called the merger “a partnership of change and hope”. Under leaders like Yitzhak Rabin, Labour was a driving force in Israel’s efforts to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Read the article in The Advertiser (Reuters).