Labor leader Yitzhak Herzog
Labor leader Yitzhak HerzogMiriam Alster/Flash 90

Labor and Meretz have signed a "surplus vote" agreement Friday, and submitted it to the Central Elections Commission for review and approval. 

A "surplus vote agreement" stipulates that additional votes from the two parties - votes which do not amount to a Knesset seat for either party if counted separately - could be combined to form one additional seat for either of the parties, and would award an additional seat to the party which needs it the most.

A similar agreement was signed between Yesh Atid and Labor in 2012; Meretz Chairman Zehava Gal-On stated during the last elections that Likud had picked up two seats in 2003 due to such an agreement, harming the extreme left-wing party in the process.  

During this round of elections, agreements have been signed between Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu party and Yisrael Beytenu, as well as Likud and Jewish Home

The agreement could save Meretz from barely passing the Knesset threshold; recent polls suggest that the party is struggling, with just four or five seats predicted for the 20th Knesset.