Labor Chairman Peretz Ends Merger With Meretz as He Prepares to Join Gov’t

Labor chairman Amir Peretz notified Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz on Motzoei Shabbos that the merger agreement between their two parties has ended. This move appears to be a precursor to Peretz joining Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government.

Peretz had repeatedly vowed throughout the past two campaigns not to sit in a government under Netanyahu, but is slated to join, along with his MK Itzik Shmuli.

The Labor party’s third MK Merav Michaeli has stated that she will not join her colleagues and will remain in the opposition.

In the recent election, MK Orly Levy-Abukasis (Gesher), who ran together with Labor in the September election, was part of the list together with Labor and Meretz. She split off several weeks ago, and is also set to join a Netanyahu-led government.