Orly Levy-Abekasis
Orly Levy-AbekasisKobi Richter/TPS

MK Orly Levy-Abekasis on Sunday gave a green light to an alliance between the Labor-Gesher and Meretz parties, saying in an interview with Channel 12 News that she will be placed in the number 2 spot on the joint slate.

"We are giving the opportunity to hold discussions so that we are responsible and will not be blamed if one party or another fails to pass the electoral threshold, even though I believe both parties would have passed the threshold if they ran separately," she clarified.

In a tweet she published later, Levy-Abekasis wrote, "I authorized Labor-Gesher chairman and my partner, Amir Peretz, to negotiate with other parties, because we must function as the 'responsible adult' of this political campaign. Someone needs to do this so that we can lead to policy change on matters that are most important."

Earlier on Sunday, Peretz convened the leadership of the Labor Party and sought permission to open negotiations on a technical union with Meretz. He was later scheduled to meet with Meretz chairman Nitzan Horowitz. The members of the negotiating team are expected to be former minister Ophir Pines-Paz and Labor secretary general Eran Hermoni. If an agreement is reached, it will be brought for approval by the Labor Central Committee at its meeting on Tuesday.

Until now, Peretz had refused to unite with Meretz despite much criticism from the left, claiming that the alliance with Gesher draws voters from the right, thereby changing the balance of power.

Last week, Peretz called for a large union of the parties on the left, saying that "Blue and White, Meretz and Labor should run under one ballot, one ballot for one bloc.”

That idea, however, was ruled out by Blue and White, which said that Labor and Meretz are leftist parties while Blue and White is a centrist party, and as such there is no room for a joint run.