In close talks with leftist activists this week, Meretz chairwoman and Knesset member Zehava Gal-On asked, “Why should we believe them? There’s no reason for the Meretz Party to sit on the fence for the sake of the Zionist Camp, just so they can join a coalition with [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and Naftali Bennett after the elections. I’ve seen this … with Tzipi Livni before, back in 2009, when she emptied us out of voters. She didn’t become prime minister in the end, and she almost eliminated us, too.” Gal-On was responding to the question of whether Meretz’ new campaign harms the chances of Labor Party chairman and Zionist Camp co-leader Isaac Herzog to put together the next government.

Gal-On swallowed, looked straight ahead and explained that she has no intention of apologizing or justifying herself. She has a party to lead into the elections, and she will not be Zionist Camp co-leader Livni’s cannon fodder again. “This time I’m not going to pay the price, and I have no reason to, either,” said an emotional Gal-On. “I’m saying that we will support Herzog as prime minister, but who can guarantee that he and Livni will not join a coalition with Netanyahu? They’ve already done that before. In the last elections, Livni explained to everyone how dangerous Netanyahu is, and yet she was still the first person to sign a coalition agreement with him and join his government.”

On Feb. 1, Meretz revealed its updated election campaign, which focused on attacking Herzog and Livni. The joint heads of the Zionist Camp both refused to make a public commitment not to be part of a Netanyahu government. Meretz strategists made the decision to concentrate this full-fledged attack on the leaders of the Zionist Camp after expressing quite a few reservations about it. Gal-On, who watched sadly as many of her anticipated seats shifted to the Zionist Camp once Livni joined forces with Labor, felt a heavy sense of deja vu. In the latest Walla! poll, released Feb. 5, Meretz received just four seats, placing the party right on the electoral threshold. With any fewer votes, they would be out of the Knesset entirely.

It is hard to ignore the similarity between this round and the 2009 elections, when Meretz dropped to just three seats. Then, as now, Meretz’ votes went to the largest party in the leftist bloc, Kadima, then headed by Livni. The reason is similar, too. The traditional leftist electorate was and is once again convinced that there is a chance for a political upset. It is therefore strengthening the largest party, even though the possibility of such a turnabout actually happening is slim. Livni walked away from the 2009 elections with 28 seats, one more than the Likud, but she was still unable to cobble together a coalition because the left-leaning bloc was still weaker than the right. Meretz came out of that campaign battered and bruised, and Gal-On, who then filled the No. 4 slot on the list, was kept out of the Knesset. It was a traumatic election campaign. The party’s chairman at the time, Haim Oron, avoided fighting for the seats that went to Livni and almost led Meretz to its complete demise.