Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg was elected as the left-wing party's new leader Thursday, winning by a landslide.
Zandberg racked up 71% of the votes in the party's first ever primary election, with 28% of voters casting their ballots for Avi Buskila, her main competition. Buskila is not currently a Knesset member. Some 17,000 Meretz members – 54% of eligible primary voters – participated in the primaries.
When Zandberg learned that she had won, she thanked her supporters and congratulated Buskila, saying, "I met Avi Buskila outside and complimented him on the fair, respectable campaign he ran. I think that together, we contributed a lot to Meretz's good name, and I see Avi and his supporters as an inseparable part of the party's process of renewal. Starting tomorrow, we will take the Israeli public by storm; from tonight, we are all one camp."
Zandberg also said, "This is an important day, but it's not my day – it's Meretz' day. Something amazing has happened over the past two months. We started believing in ourselves again. We're back on the political playing field. We're once again the alternative – starting tomorrow morning, Meretz will lead a revolution."
Many in Meretz hope that Zandberg, with her young and energetic persona, will revive the party as Labor is predicted to collapse under the leadership of Avi Gabbay.
Meretz could form an attractive option for left-wingers in the Zionist Union who are frustrated with Gabbay's remarks and his lack of ability to create a clear agenda for the party.
Zandberg's victory is a reflection of Meretz members' desire to put the party – which was once the third-largest faction in the Knesset – back into a position of influence. When she launched her campaign, Zandberg declared that Meretz aspired to be part of the governing coalition and that she would not rule out Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman as a coalition partner.
Thursday's primary, which was the first time the primaries were open to all party members rather than just party conference delegates, led to Meretz making a stronger showing in the polls, which now predict that it could scoop up seven or eight seats in a general election. The party currently has five Knesset seats.
The resignation of former party chairwoman Zehava Galon and veteran MK Ilan Gilon dropping out of the race for party leader in February may have cleared the way for Zandberg, but even before Gilon dropped out polls were showing Zandberg ahead of her opponents by a large margin.
Galon congratulated Zandberg and wished her success, saying, "Israeli politics can be a brutal battlefield, and the biggest battles are still ahead of you. But I'm sure you will fight with honor and determination. Your success is a success for Meretz and the Left as a whole."
Galon added: "The open primaries proved themselves in a big way, and gave Meretz the lift it needed ahead of the next [general] election. Israel needs Meretz alive and kicking, and I believe that you have the ability to make it so."
