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Meretz Leader Pledges Feisty Opposition to Netanyahu

Akiva Eldar talks to Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On, who pledges to mount a strong opposition, but admits that she sometimes wishes to work in the government.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat (L) and Israeli lawmaker Zahava Gal-On, leader of the left-wing Meretz party, give a statement to the media in the West Bank city of Ramallah August 26, 2012. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS)
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Were it not for the 19 Knesset seats of Yesh Atid, the left-wing party Meretz would have been crowned as the surprise of the elections to the 19th Knesset.

Barely two months ago, Meretz was buried by pundits and discounted by politicians. Polls gave it four seats in the Knesset, at most, until the very last moment. When Hatenua leader Tzipi Livni called on Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid and Labor Party leader Shelly Yachimovich to form an obstructive anti-Netanyahu bloc, she didn’t bother mentioning Zehava Gal-On as a potential partner. When Yachimovich defended herself against critics who accused her of concealing Labor’s agenda on political issues, she said hers was the only party with a political platform. She ignored the fact that several weeks ago Meretz unveiled a plan calling for the replacement of negotiations based on the Oslo Accords with immediate recognition of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

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