MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash) told in a radio interview on Sunday, July 21, that his top priority was to renew the Joint List of Hadash and three Arab parties (Ta’al, Balad and the United Arab List) that ran together in 2015, but he did not rule out joining Meretz instead.
Hadash MK Ayman Odeh (Photo: Zu Haderech)
Meretz MKs met Sunday to debate whether to seek a political bond with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s Israel Democratic Party or Hadash, or run alone in the September 17 election. Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz stepped up his attack on the new Labor party leader, MK Amir Peretz on Sunday, saying that he “spit in the face of his voters” by signing a deal with Orly Levy-Abecassis, who was formerly an MK for Avigdor Lieberman’s racist and far-right Yisrael Beytenu party.
Less than three weeks after his election as leader of the Labor Party, Amir Peretz faced a rebellion on Sunday organized by the runner-up in the leadership race, MK Stav Shaffir. Shaffir protested Peretz’s decision to sign a deal with Levy-Abecassis instead of Meretz and Barak’s Israel Democratic Party. Shaffir accused Peretz of breaking his campaign promise to seek bonds with parties on the Zionist Left and instead making the deal with Levy-Abecassis.
According to polls published on Sunday, if the elections were held now, the Joint List would win 10 to 11 Knesset seats. An independent poll conducted for Channel 12 News, gave the Joint List 11 seats in the Knesset.
According to the same poll, the Labor party would win seven Knesset seats following its recently announced alliance with Levy-Abecassis, one to two seats more than it won in last April’s election. This same poll predicts that both Meretz and Barak’s Democratic Israel would win four Knesset seats, if the elections were held now. However, the poll conducted for Channel 11 has Ehud Barak failing to pass the 3.25 percent electoral threshold required to enter the Knesset with a minimum of 4 seats.
Related:
- Hadash and Arab Parties Reunite for Upcoming General Elections
- Uncertain Fate for Renewed Joint List towards September Elections
- Reconciliation Committee Fails to Revive Joint List Ahead of Elections
