Outgoing Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej of the Meretz Party believes that the historical role of the Meretz and Labor parties has come to an end and a new political framework should be considered.
Speaking in an interview with Nasradio, Frej said that "Meretz will not return to being Meretz in the same format. The idea is there, but there are meetings and pressures for a union between Meretz and the Labor Party. In my personal opinion, it is incumbent upon Meretz and the Labor Party to end their historic role and establish a new inclusive political body where the door will be open to the Arab public and resident. The Arab citizen should be a partner and not a tool (that is being used)."
Referring to the reasons for Meretz's failure in the last elections, Frej said that the Joint List's “Gevald campaign” took votes from Meretz, mainly due to Balad's rise in polls.
In this context, Frej said, "Balad's leaving the Joint List and its participation in the elections separately was the most important development in the entire election process, and in particular in the last week. In the last week (before the elections) there were polls which said Balad was close to passing the electoral threshold, and these polls planted great hope in many young people in our Arab society, and this took away two to three thousand votes for Meretz which came from the Arab society."