Zandberg in Knesset plenary session
Zandberg in Knesset plenary sessionFlash 90

Former Meretz Chairwoman MK Tamar Zandberg today published a post in Hebrew and Arabic following the downfall dealt to Labor-Gesher-Meretz in the elections and wrote: "It's not an easy day for the Left."

"The results are still swaying, and it's still unclear whether - for the third time in one year - we have been able to prevent the government from allowing a prime minister accused of bribery to escape justice while making a dangerous way towards annexation, incitement, and racism," she noted.

Zandberg referred to reports of attempts to recruit defectors from the Leftist bloc: "I don't even entertain the notion that there'll be anyone in our camp who'd tramples this struggle and would be the 61st finger of a government that distorts Israel's democratic foundations." With her signature Marxist flair for driving a wedge she continued: "The whoops of victory in the Right are meaningless. The Israeli public is divided. At least half of it voted against the corrupt and racist coup that Netanyahu and his partners are planning for us."

She said, "Obviously, we expected more. As a bloc, we expected to improve the 2019 result, and in practice we degraded it. As a list, we expected a big Leftist framework, and in practice we brought a disappointing result. But the sun's still shining today, and we have no intention of letting our heads down and despairing. It compels soul-searching and lessons learned, but one thing is for sure: This is not a failure of ideology, on the contrary.

"It was made clear that Israel needs more than ever a sharp and clear path that strives for peace, ending the occupation and resisting annexation, civil equality, social justice, and Jewish-Arab solidarity," Zandberg asserted.

The former Meretz Chairwoman added, "It has been made clear that veering Rightward and flattering an imaginary consensus is mistaken and a failure, morally wrong and it doesn't prove itself politically. It only brought us to a dead end and to separating Jewish and Arab politics, the exact opposite of what was needed. When Blue and White used the horrifying term 'Jewish majority', and the Joint Arab List achieved an important achievement but one separated from Jewish politics, it all required a change of direction. A Jewish-Arab partnership is the right and most significant direction not only for the Left, but for the State of Israel.

"Tomorrow's a new day, and we have a lot of work to do. We're not afraid or discouraged. We raise our heads and we're confident - but convinced - that we will win in the end," Zandberg ended.