Meretz

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מרצ
Meretz
Party logo of the Meretz-Jachad
Nitzan Horowitz (2012)
Party leader Nitzan Horowitz
founding 1992
Headquarters Tel Aviv-Jaffa , Israel
Youth organization Young Meretz
Alignment Left politics ,
social democracy ,
left liberalism ,
green politics ,
secularism ,
socialist Zionism ,
two-state solution
Colours) green
Parliament seats
2/120
( 2020 )
International connections Socialist International

Progressive Alliance

European party SPE (observer)
Website meretz.org.il

Meretz ( Hebrew מרצ) is a left-wing political party in Israel that is represented in the Knesset . The Hebrew term Meretz means something like “energy” or “vigor”.

history

The Israeli left parties until 2009

Meretz was founded in 1992 as an electoral alliance of the civil rights movement Ratz , the United Workers' Party Mapam and the liberal Schinui . In 1996 the alliance was transformed into a party. The Meretz took over membership in the Socialist International from the Mapam.

From 1992 to 1996 and from 1999 to the beginning of 2001 Meretz was involved in the governments led by the Avoda .

In December 2003, Meretz joined with Yossi Beilin's extra-parliamentary Shachar movement (שח״ר, German "Morgenröte") together. Various names were proposed for the new party, with Jachad ultimately prevailing. Jachad (German "together") was the abbreviation for Jisra'el chewratit democrat (ישראל חברתית דמוקרטית, Social Democratic Israel). The party advocated a consistent peace policy vis-à-vis the Palestinians and stood up with the claim to unite the Israeli peace camp. She supported the Geneva initiative , of which Beilin was one of the initiators.

In July 2005 the name was changed to Meretz-Jachad ( Hebrew מרצ-יחד) changed, since surveys had shown that the name Jachad did not cause any noteworthy response within the Israeli public, and that they preferred the name Meretz. For the elections to the 17th Knesset in March 2006, the Jachad part of the name was dropped, so that the party was now called Meretz again .

Before the Knesset elections in 2009, Shalom Achshaw founder Amos Oz announced a new left-wing movement led by the Meretz party, which would be based on the values ​​of social democracy and in competition with the Labor Party. The plan was supported by former Labor Party leaders such as ex-ministers Schlomo Ben Ami , Uzi Baram and former Knesset spokesman Avraham Burg . In the Knesset elections, the new alliance called New Movement-Meretz could not achieve electoral success and instead lost two Knesset seats compared to the Meretz result in 2006. Nevertheless, Meretz chairman Chaim Oron announced that his party would continue despite the poor performance will play a key role in establishing a new Zionist pacifist and humanist social democratic left in Israel.

Since the Knesset election campaign in 2009, the party has been trading under the name Meretz again .

In the run-up to the Knesset election in September 2019 , Meretz joined forces with the Democratic Israel party, newly founded by Ehud Barak , to form the Democratic Union . The alliance was also joined by the Green Movement ( HaTnu'a HaYeruqa ) and the Avoda MP Stav Shaffir . The Democratic Union won a total of five seats in the Knesset, three of which went to Meretz.

In the Knesset election in March 2020 , Meretz ran on a joint list with the parties Awoda and Gescher . The alliance won seven seats, two of which went to Meretz.

program

Meretz advocates civil rights , social justice , equality for women, electoral reforms and religious pluralism . Meretz was the first Zionist party to accept the idea of ​​a Palestinian state .

In addition to supporting an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and the establishment of a Palestinian state, Meretz is calling for a "social democratic economic alternative" to the market economy as well as environmental justice, tax increases for higher incomes and an increase in social spending, higher spending on public health care and education and an increase of payments for people with disabilities. Meretz also stands for the legalization of marijuana, support for same-sex marriages and full rights for same-sex couples.

Chairperson

Election results for the Knesset

Knesset year Total votes Votes in% Seats in parliament comment
13. 1992 250,667 9.6 12
14th 1996 226.275 7.4 9
15th 1999 253,525 7.6 10
16. 2003 164.122 5.21 6th as Mechetz-Jachad; Electoral alliance with Bechira Demokratit
17th 2006 118,302 3.77 5 as Mechetz-Jachad
18th 2009 99,611 2.95 3 as New Movement-Meretz
19th 2013 172.403 4.55 6th
20th 2015 165.292 3.93 5
21st 2019 156.473 3.63 4th
22nd 2019 192.261 4.34 5 in the Democratic Union alliance ; three of the five seats went to Meretz
23. 2020 267.457 5.83 7th In the electoral alliance Awoda-Gescher-Meretz with Awoda and Gescher ; two of the seven seats went to Meretz

Others

Logo of the Youth Meretz

The youth association Young Meretz is a member of the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY, German Socialist Youth International ) and as such a sister association of the Jusos and the Falcons .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Expected Participants. Progressive Alliance , archived from the original on June 10, 2013 ; Retrieved June 6, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / progressive-alliance.info
  2. ↑ Noam Sheizaf: Socialist universalism or national project? A look at the history of left parties in Israel. In: Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Israel Office. September 20, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Akiva Eldar: Labor figureheads to support Meretz in upcoming elections. In: Haaretz . September 3, 2012, archived from the original on October 22, 2012 ; accessed on June 12, 2017 (English).
  4. ↑ Ofri Ilani: As laboratory fades, new leftist movement steps into the breach. In: Haaretz . January 25, 2013, archived from the original on October 20, 2012 ; accessed on June 12, 2017 (English).
  5. ^ Eli Senyor: Meretz chairman: Left suffered harsh blow. In: Ynetnews . February 10, 2009, accessed June 12, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Raoul Wootliff, TOI staff: Meretz, former PM Barak, Labor defector Shaffir announce joint Knesset run. Retrieved July 25, 2019 (American English).
  7. ^ Barak vows additional mergers in press conference with Shaffir, Horowitz - Israel Elections - Jerusalem Post. Retrieved July 25, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Jonathan Lis: Labor Party, Meretz Announce Merger Ahead of Israel Election . In: Haaretz . January 13, 2020 ( Haaretz.com [accessed March 7, 2020]).
  9. ^ Which parties are running - and who is likely to get in. In: Israel National News. April 9, 2019, accessed October 24, 2019 .