Meretz (;Meretz (Vigour) Times of Israel ) was a political party in Israel. It originated as an alliance of the Ratz, Mapam, and Shinui parties in 1992 and became a unified party in 1997.
Meretz identified as a social democratic and secular party. Its platform emphasized support for a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, human rights (including those of religious, ethnic, and sexual minorities), religious freedom, and environmentalism. While Meretz’s three predecessor parties were Zionist, and it proclaimed itself as such in its earlier years, the party’s own position on Zionism has been disputed.
Meretz was a member of the Progressive Alliance and Socialist International, and was an observer member of the Party of European Socialists. The party achieved its highest electoral result in the 1992 Israeli legislative election, winning 12 seats in the Knesset. During most of the early 21st century, it held between three and six seats.
In the 2022 Israeli legislative election, it failed to pass the electoral threshold and did not gain representation in the Knesset, the only time this occurred in its history. In 2024, Meretz merged with the Israeli Labor Party to establish a new political party, The Democrats.
History
Background The Second Alignment, an alliance headed by Israel's dominant Labor Party, held practical hegemony over the left-wing of Israeli politics. Smaller, more left-leaning parties were either targeted towards Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, such as Hadash, or, in the case of Zionist or post-Zionist parties, very small, such as Ratz or the ill-fated Left Camp of Israel, leading to neither group being viable for government formation.
Multiple political realignments starting with the 1977 'upheaval' (the electoral victory of the Likud over the Alignment) led to the rise of alternatives to Labor. The Left Camp dissolved over the issue on how to negotiate with the Palestine Liberation Organization, with the PLO-sceptic faction, including Ran Cohen and Binyamin Temkin, joining Shulamit Aloni's Ratz, a liberal socialist party committed to improving civil liberties for all Israeli citizens, and negotiating a peace deal. The Shinui party had formed a large liberal alliance known as the Democratic Movement for Change, but this collapsed in 1978, with Shinui seeking out an image as a party that sided with the left-wing on issues of peace and secularism, despite being economically right-wing, though it lost a legislator, Mordechai Virshubski, to Ratz. When Labor entered a national unity government with the Likud in 1984, it angered the largest partner in the Alignment, the democratic socialist Mapam, who left the Alignment and resumed its existence as an independent political party.
As early as 1985, Mapam and Ratz, who agreed on many economic, social and geopolitical issues, considered an alliance. The outbreak of the First Intifada had forced politicians from across the spectrum to rethink their stances on Palestinian statehood. For example, Mapam, who had previously supported giving the West Bank to Jordan, began to support an independent Palestinian state. Furthermore, members of both parties, as well as of Labor, collaborated within the Peace Now organisation.
Beginnings Leading up to the 1988 Israeli legislative election, all attempts to form a joint list between the pacifist left parties failed, as Ratz, Mapam and Shinui all contested the election separately. When Ratz signed a surplus vote agreement with the Alignment, Mapam accused Ratz of wanting to "remove Mapam from the political scene", to which Ratz leader Shulamit Aloni responded by saying that "Mapam's panic is understandable. It is a spoiled party, rich in assets and jobs, which fears any young, fresh organization without vested economic interests that comes to fight with clean hands." She also highlighted the inevitability of the two parties becoming allies, comparing Mapam to the biblical character Saul throwing his spear at David. Furthermore, Mapam's leader, Yair Tzaban, was a long-time rival of Ran Cohen, ever since the two were members of the Left Camp, something which made a union seem even more unlikely.
Mapam formed a surplus vote agreement with Shinui. Ratz's role in the election was its most important ever. Some opinion polls put Ratz at eight seats, a clear case to become Labor's main coalition partner. Ratz won five seats, while Mapam, once Israel's second-largest party, sank to just three seats. Shinui went from three to two seats. None of the parties joined the next government, a continuation of the national unity government.
During the 1989 local elections, the three left-Zionist parties made joint lists in many towns and cities. In 1990, all ten of their MKs agreed to co-ordinate policy on most issues, to pave the way for a joint list in the 1992 elections. In fact, a provisional list order was agreed where the three party leaders would be on top, followed by Ratz's Yossi Sarid. The three parties would also appear together at demonstrations. At the same time, questions were raised over the feasibility of the strengthening alliance between the three. While all three had virtually no differences on the issue of peace, Mapam was an anti-capitalist party based in the kibbutzim, and its affiliated Kibbutz Artzi movement was against forming an alliance with Ratz and especially Shinui, two parties who drew support from the upper and middle class in suburban areas and cities. The second-in-command of Shinui, Avraham Poraz, was a self-described 'capitalist'.
In July 1991, Ran Cohen attempted to recruit Ezer Weizman, leader of the centrist, but pacifist and Arab-inclusive, party Yahad, into the fold. However, leaked contents of their discussion, and Shulamit Aloni's perception that her leadership of the alliance was being threatened, caused the talks to break down, with Weizman calling the left-wing union a 'farce'. Nevertheless, the left-wing union remained the only viable option for Ratz, Mapam and Shinui. Polls in 1991 predicted that a unified list between the three could win up to eighteen seats, while remaining separate would keep them at ten. Furthermore, in October 1991, the electoral threshold was raised to 1.5%, a number which endangered Mapam and Shinui's chances of making it into the next Knesset alone.
As an alliance (1992–1997) On 1 March 1992, Ratz, Mapam and Shinui agreed to create a joint Knesset faction and electoral alliance. It was initially called 'Democratic Israel', chosen among other proposed names including 'The Democratic Union' (coincidentally used by Meretz in 2019), 'Different Israel' and 'The Triangle'. Its election symbol, (), combined Mapam () and Ratz (). Under the agreement, Shulamit Aloni would lead the list, and another four of the top ten would be reserved for Ratz members. Within the top 16, there would be at least three women and two Arab candidates. By the time of the election campaign, the party's name was changed to 'Meretz', with 'Democratic Israel' appearing in the party's ballot subtitle. Although Shinui was not included in the acronym, it was referenced in the party’s campaign slogan: (A government with vigor [Meretz], the strength to make the change [Shinui]).
Mapam had been established before Israel's independence and therefore had a strong legacy network of kibbutzim and the Hashomer Hatzair organisation to support Meretz, while Ratz and Shinui contributed their wealthier, more urban voters to the new alliance.
In the 1992 Israeli legislative election, Meretz won twelve seats, an increase from the combined ten seats that the three constituent parties had won in 1988. This result made Meretz the third-largest party in the Knesset. It became the major coalition partner of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s Labor Party and played a role in advancing the Oslo Accords. Members of Meretz held several ministerial positions: Shulamit Aloni was appointed Minister of Education, but after disagreements over the role of religion in education, she was reassigned in May 1993 as Minister Without Portfolio. In June 1993, she became Minister of Communications and Minister of Science and Technology, later renamed Minister of Science and the Arts. Amnon Rubinstein, Shinui leader and co-founder, served as Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Minister of Science and Technology, and later Minister of Education, Culture, and Sport. Yossi Sarid of Ratz was appointed Minister of the Environment, and Mapam leader Yair Tzaban became Minister of Immigrant Absorption.
Before the 1996 Israeli general election, Aloni was defeated by Sarid in an internal leadership contest and subsequently retired from political life.
For the election campaign, Meretz used the song Shir LaShalom ("A Song for Peace"), which had been sung at a rally minutes before Yitzhak Rabin was shot and killed by a far-right extremist. The party adapted a line of the song for its slogan, ("Let Meretz Rise!"). Meretz stressed it was the only coalition partner that would keep Labor on a positive path. While Meretz supported Shimon Peres's bid to become the first directly elected prime minister, they warned that a second ballot for the Labor Party would lead to a Labor-Shas coalition, which would be vulnerable to the right wing.
In the election, Meretz lost three seats, and a right-wing government was formed when Benjamin Netanyahu was directly elected as prime minister.
Merger and decline (1997–2003) In 1997, the three founding parties formally merged to form a single political entity. While Rubinstein supported the merger, most Shinui members opposed it. A faction of Shinui, led by Rubinstein, joined the new party, while the remainder, under Avraham Poraz, re-established Shinui as an independent party. In 1999, after finding out that he would not be put on a high list spot for the next election, David Zucker left Meretz to serve as an independent member. He would join The Greens.
In the same year, Yossi Sarid was reelected as leader of Meretz in an internal leadership election conducted through a vote of party convention delegates.
The election preceded the 1999 Israeli general election. During the campaign, Meretz used the slogan, ("Meretz - to be free in our country" - a reference to Hatikvah), to highlight their support of separating religion and government. Meretz increased their political hostility towards Shas (who had just served as junior coalition partner to the Likud), and made it a core campaign point to overtake them to become the third party. They also criticised other parties in the centre-left bloc for being 'single issue' and siphoning votes from them. One of those parties, Shinui, led by Tommy Lapid, was becoming the most vocal anti-clerical party.
In the election, the party increased its representation to ten seats. Among those elected was Hussniya Jabara, who became the first female Palestinian citizen of Israel to serve as a member of the Knesset. However, Meretz did not achieve their goal of beating Shas. Nevertheless, Meretz joined Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s coalition government. Sarid was appointed Minister of Education, Ran Cohen became Minister of Industry and Trade, and Haim Oron was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
After Likud leader Ariel Sharon defeated Barak in the 2001 Israeli prime ministerial election, Meretz found itself out of a coalition again. On 22 October 2002, Amnon Rubinstein retired from the Knesset, and Uzi Even, next on the Meretz list, entered parliament, becoming the first openly gay member of the Knesset. His appointment drew mixed reactions, particularly from Haredi parties.