The chairwoman of the far-left Meretz party, MK Zehava Galon, responded to her party dropping from six to four seats and barely making it into the Knesset by resigning and handing her post over to MK Tamar Zandberg.
However, Zandberg responded to the turn of events by calling on Galon to retract her resignation and return to the helm of the ideological leftist party, which in the course of roughly 30 years pushed the "two-state solution" into a central place in the Israeli political discourse.
"It's a difficult morning for the left," wrote Zandberg on Facebook, responding to Likud's victory over Labor and her party's marginalization.
"Zehava Galon's announcement is a sterling example of the leadership, honesty and courage that characterizes her always, and that are so lacking here," she continued.
According to Zandberg, Meretz's failure is not that of Galon but rather that of all leftist voters, adding "I can't imagine a Knesset and public life without Zehava Galon, and call on her to retract her intention to resign."
"In any case, it still isn't over and we will hope that tomorrow in the morning there won't be a need for her announcement because we will receive the fifth mandate and start together the long journey of repairing and change that is so needed here," wrote Zandberg. While over 99% of the votes have been counted, final results including some ballots cast by IDF soldiers have yet to be counted.