Green Party chairwoman MK Stav Shaffir called for unity with the Labor and Meretz parties in a special newsletter she distributed on Friday.
Shaffir, who earlier this week announced that she will run in the upcoming elections independently as part of the Green Party and not as part of the Democratic Union, reiterated that she intends to do everything in her power over the 20 days remaining before election slates must be submitted to bring about an alliance of parties to the left of Blue and White.
"When Amir Peretz refused, and Meretz was treading below the electoral threshold before the last election, I left my seat at the Labor Party - a seat I earned in the primaries when tens of thousands of members secured my seat in the Knesset – in order to set up the Democratic Union, with the understanding that only a large bloc could secure victory over the corrupt regime. In order of us to maintain the bloc in this election as well - everyone has to act responsibly. It's not too late to sit together and establish a great alliance that will bring hope to our camp. As long as the candle is lit – we can make light,” she wrote.
Shffir also noted that "our public is fed up of parties that seem to be engaged in work arrangements for politicians and internal quarrels more than putting up an ideological alternative."
She shared with her supporters the contacts she had with Meretz leaders to continue a joint run as part of the Democratic Union – an alliance between the Green Party, Meretz and Ehud Barak’s Israel Democratic party. "I suggested that my second place on the slate be reserved for former MK Issawi Frej, for the benefit of the Jewish-Arab partnership on the left. [I suggested] holding primaries for the leadership among all the members. The response? A deafening silence.”
Shaffir expressed great confidence in the power of the Green Party under her leadership, writing, "The Green Movement is the future. The future of the camp that raises the banner of values of equality, freedom, justice, truth and compassion. All over the world young people are seeing their friends rise and join the Green Movement – and the same thing happens here. With the spirit we bring, we are rebuilding this camp. Whoever wants to unite with us while maintaining our values and strength - we will come with an open heart. We will fight for the values we believe in, to the end. We have no other home. It burns in us.”
Shaffir added that "The Netanyahu era is already over. Now our vision for the future must be presented. Now a whole generation of young people who grew up under Netanyahu's rule here must be convinced that things can be a lot better here. That different publics in Israeli society can exist side by side, not at the expense of one another. That peace is possible, that a government that cares for the needs of the citizen and not the tycoons - is the most basic thing we deserve. But when the only political promise that remains is ‘we will not sit with Netanyahu’, it does not raise any hopes.”
Shaffir had recently been in conflict with Knesset members from Meretz who were planning to place her and Major General Yair Golan, who represents Barak’s party in the Democratic Union, in lower spots on the party’s slate for the March election.
Last week, Shaffir strongly attacked the initiative to move her down from the number two spot on the slate and called for the holding of open primaries under a united party.
"All the voters of the Democratic Union should be allowed to come and choose the leadership and the order of the list,” she said, while also referring to the members of Meretz as the “dinosaurs of the left.”
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)