Labor chairman MK Amir Peretz on Saturday night informed Meretz chairman MK Nitzan Horowitz that he is terminating the union between the parties.
The announcement stated that a request had been submitted to the Knesset Arrangements Committee for the dissolution of the joint faction in the 23rd Knesset.
Labor is expected to join the Likud-Blue and White unity government, with Peretz and fellow MK Itzik Shmuli to be appointed as ministers.
MK Tamar Zandberg (Meretz) blasted Peretz following his announcement and said, "Amir Peretz has ended a distinguished political career as an opportunist and a cheat and will be recorded in the history books as such.”
“Peretz deceived the voters, deceived Meretz, and rode the Israeli left toward a miserable job in a despicable government. I urge [Labor MK] Merav Michaeli to join us and lead the ideological left in the Knesset with us," added Zandberg.
Horowitz later reacted to the announcement as well and said, "Peretz and Shmuli are embezzling the trust of hundreds of thousands of voters and crawling into the arms of the defendant from Balfour for a job in the right-wing government. The pledge not to sit under the defendant Netanyahu was also the basis for the alliance with Meretz. Peretz broke this pledge, while spitting in the face of all those who trusted him.”
“I call on our friends in the Labor movement - come with us to create a sharp and clear alternative to the rule of the right. Meretz will apply tomorrow to split from Labor and will lead a left that is proud, ideological and loyal to its voters,” added Horowitz.
MK Yair Golan lashed out at Peretz and said, "Amir Peretz, good riddance, and the only pity is for the tens of thousands of voters who you deceived. You will forever be remembered as someone whose personal drives defeated his values and political discretion. Goodbye and I won’t see you later.”
Labor Secretary-General Eran Hermoni wrote on Twitter, "To see the leaders of Meretz spew venom and hatred against the Labor Party and Amir Peretz, and to understand the story of the scorpion and the frog. For months they begged us to come together. We knew the whole might be smaller than the sum its parts, but we acted out of responsibility for the bloc. Thanks to the alliance, Meretz passed the electoral threshold. They should also remember that and not jump from studio to studio and slander."