Numbers 1 and 2 - Gilon and Gal-on
צילום: מוטי קמחי
96% voter turnout as Meretz elects Knesset list
With 3 women in the top 5 and very few new faces, Meretz is aspiring to 10 mandates and chairwoman Gal-On promises to recommend Herzog for prime minister.
With a 96 percent voter turnout, the Meretz party elected its Knesset list for the upcoming March 17 elections on Monday.
MK Ilan Gilon won the primary elections, and will be placed second after chairwoman Zehava Gal-On. The third spot on the list went to MK Issawi Frej.
Meretz's list was saturated with women, as MKs Michal Rozin and Tamar Zandberg completed the top five.
The Meretz top 10 (Photo: Motti Kimchi) (צילום: מוטי קמחי)
At number six is former MK Mossi Raz and the seventh spot went to a fresh face - Tel Aviv councilwoman Attorney Gaby Lasky.
Next on the list are Avi Dabush, former MK Avshalom Vilan and Uri Zaki, completing the top 10.
'A revolution with Meretz' (Photo: Motti Kimchi) (צילום: מוטי קמחי)
Following the announcement of the primaries' winners, chairwoman Gal-On said: "We have a great Meretz. This is the best list in the Knesset. All ten will be in the next Knesset and together we will change the state of Israel."
She went on to say: "We've never lied, we've never betrayed, we've never strayed from the path and you know well that we will get the job done exactly as we say we would. That's why Meretz needs to be big and significant."
Meretz primaries (Photo: Motti Kimchi) (צילום: מוטי קמחי)
To potential voters she said: "Ten mandates will keep Lieberman further away from the government, keep the settlers away from the money and the budget. Ten mandates are for social justice, eradication of poverty, social marriages, education for democracy. If Meretz is not big, Herzog won't have a choice but to look to the right. If you want a revolution and you want Herzog as prime minister - vote Meretz."
Out of the 1010 members of the party convention, 966 voted. Ahead of the upcoming elections, the number of Meretz delegates rose from 5,000 (before the 2013 elections) to 16,100 this year. Twenty-three candidates took part in the primaries.
96% voter turnout (Photo: Motti Kimchi) (צילום: מוטי קמחי)
The list includes eight women, social activists from a variety of fields and representatives from the kibbutzim, moshavim and the periphery. The list includes reserved spots for women in spots 4, 6 and 9, in addition to chairwoman Gal-On.
The party's leading campaign slogan is "A revolution with Meretz."
"This election will be the battle of the blocs. I'm estimating Meretz will get ten mandates and then we'll have a revolution, because we'll recommend Herzog as a candidate to form the government. This is our challenge - to maximize our activity to ten mandates. We'll protect Herzog and prevent a national unity government. There's no revolution without Meretz. The center-left bloc will not be able to exist without Meretz."
