Less than a week before the Meretz party primaries, a probe by Israel Hayom discovered that hundreds of voters are registered members of both the Meretz and Labor parties.
The probe uncovered 331 voters that were registered with both parties at the same time. One should note that this is a lower number than when compared to similar occurrences in the past, but that fact is due to the decline in party membership, specifically in Labor, in recent years. Both parties have seen instances when the difference between candidates was only a few hundred or even tens of votes, and therefore hundreds of double memberships in the party can make a big difference.
According to the report, of those with double membership, several are prominent Labor party activists, who served in the past in different positions in the party and as political advisors to its Knesset members. For instance, Labor's former internet content manager, Ma'ayan Dotan, is also a member of Meretz.
Meretz Secretary General Tomer Resnik replied to the report: "To clarify, the party prohibits members from holding membership in other parties. When registering, every Meretz member must sign a disclaimer that he is not a member of another party. Furthermore, any new member is responsible for canceling any other party membership when joining the party. The claim that there are about 300 double members was unknown to the party when we were questioned for comment. The party will look into the specific claims that were brought up in the probe, but at this point, we do not have the ability to check all of the claims of double membership, and once we find that they are true they will be dealt with accordingly."
Ma'ayan Dotan commented, "I was sure that one membership cancels the other, now that I know, I will take care of the issue."
Labor declined to comment on the report.