Livnat: No renewal
Photo: Dudi Vaaknin
Meridor: Labor is dwarfed
Photo: Yaron Brener
Oron. Social-democratic party
Photo: Merav Yudilovitch
Just hours after the Labor Party's new roster was formed, voices in the Likud hastened to disparage choices made by the party's voters. "The team chosen by the Labor Party is just the same old thing," MK Limor Livnat (Likud) said Friday.
Livnat criticized Labor Party members for reelecting well-known politicians such as MKs Isaac Herzog and Ophir Pines-Paz to primary slots. "These are the same people – there is no renewal, unlike the team that will be chosen by the Likud on Monday," Livnat said.
Election Results
Attila Somfalvi
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Former Minister Dan Meridor was also critical of rival parties. "The Labor Party is becoming dwarfed and Kadima is going backward, so there's a large vacuum we can fill, if we present a serious team," he said.
Referring to the issues of Jerusalem and the Palestinians he said, "Those who wouldn't like to see the Jaffa Gate become a gate of departure from Israel should vote Likud."
The new Leftist movement, shown by polls to constitute a threat to the Labor, also convened Friday. The movement is intended to join Meretz, and among the well-known faces in the convention hall were Meretz Chairman Chaim Oron, writer Amos Oz, and actress Gila Almagor.
Oron said the enlarged Meretz party had no plans to harm the Labor, but added: "We are appealing to people belonging to the desperate and indifferent party – we want them with us."
Oron added that the new and improved Meretz would "look to empower the social-democratic movement in Israel."
Tzali Reshef, among the founders of the movement, told of the members' aspirations. "We can definitely see ourselves as capable of being the third largest party in Israel. When you look at the other party leaders and then you look at Meretz Chairman Chaim Oron, he's certainly better suited than them to lead a large Leftist party," he said.
Attila Somfalvi, Yael Branovsky, Eli Senyor, and Merav Yudilovitch contributed to this report