The March primaries ended last night (Tuesday), with the victory of Zehava Galon over Yair Golan, and her return to the leadership of the party. 15,329 of the party’s functionaries – 81% – voted in the primaries using an app or at the polling stations.
Galon won 60 percent of the votes compared to 40 for Golan. After her victory, Galon said that “to all those who paid tribute to Meretz, I have news for you: like the phoenix rising from the dust to a new life – this night Meretz has been resurrected. And tonight, Meretz is rising again. On November 1st we will see hundreds of thousands of shamans flocking to Meretz, and putting We thank the Knesset and the government of change.” According to her, “We will defeat the Bibiists and the Kahnists – those who want to run over the leftists, crush their bones, put us on trains and send us away from here. Those who want to crush the Supreme Court and pour bleach on the prosecutor’s office. When Meretz is strong in the Knesset, Bibi-Ben Gvir will stay outside.”
Yair Golan tweeted after the loss that “I congratulate Zehava on her win, and we have a joint mission ahead of November 1. Good luck to all of us.”
MK Mossi Raz was elected to the first place on the party list for the Knesset, followed by Michal Rosin, Ali Salalha, who entered the Knesset for the first time in the current term, thanks to the Norwegian law, followed by Yair Golan. MK Gabi Lasky won the sixth place, followed by the Minister of Health and the outgoing chairman, Nitzan Horowitz.
MK Itamar Ben Gvir, who starred in Galon’s victory speech, mocked Galon and Golan after the primaries and wrote on Twitter: “Congratulations to Zehava and the Three Bears, who won the Process ID. How did he not recognize it?”