The Israeli Labor party is looking to run on a joint ticket with another left-wing or center-left party, as new polls show Labor failing to cross the electoral threshold if it runs alone.
“In this election,” Labor chairman Avi Gabbay said Friday morning at a conference hosted by the Berl Katznelson Foundation in Tel Aviv, “the center-left camp needs to run with three parties instead of five. We need to have mergers here. The joint list needs to work together.”
Gabbay, who led Labor to its poorest showing in history, winning just six seats, said the party would merge either with the far-left Meretz faction, or the center-left Blue and White party.
“Labor will merge with Meretz or with Blue and White. The decision needs to be made based on the question ‘what will grow the entire [left] camp and lead that camp to victory in the elections’, rather than based on what is good for an individual party.”
A new poll released Friday shows Labor receiving just 1.9% of the vote if new elections were held today, well below the 3.25% required to enter the Knesset.
On Thursday, Labor MK Stav Shafir called on Gabbay to be replaced as party chairman.
“We in the Labor party need to hold new leadership elections. Avi Gabbay’s political career is over.”