i24 News – Zehava Galon defeated Yair Golan in Meretz primaries on Tuesday after she returned from retirement.
Polling stations in Israel opened from 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm as more than 18,000 members of the party voted. Galon formerly led the party from 2012 to 2019.
Her return comes after Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz announced in July he would step down as head of the party. Voters placed him seventh on the party list, which polls indicate will not be high enough to enter the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in November 1 elections.
Galon beat Golan, the deputy economy minister, 60 percent to 40 percent.
Golan promotes a “separation of the Palestinians,” which he thinks Meretz should be centered around, and laments the party’s “elitist” image.
Galon in July said she supported a merger with Israel’s Labor, headed by Transportation and Road Safety Minister Merav Michaeli.
While Michaeli has rejected any possible merger as harming both parties’ combined seats in the upcoming elections, as projected by polls, Meretz headed by Galon is projected to win five seats. If headed by Golan, the party is expected to win only four seats. i24 News
