Investigating ‘Scandal’ in Meretz Primary

I was given the opportunity to respond to an article in the Open Zion blog of the Daily Beast, which alleged a scandal in the Meretz party primary to select candidates for seats in the Jerusalem city council, in the upcoming October election. Knowing some of the players, including fellow blogger Laura Wharton, made me an especially interested observer.

Hopefully, I’ve shed light on an acrimonious matter.  Perhaps more importantly, I’ve also challenged the premise of the earlier piece that this dispute has anything to do with the weakness of Israel’s left.  My article begins as follows:

I read Noga Tarnopolsky’s Open Zion article, “20 Years After Oslo, What’s Happened to the Israeli Left?” with some shock and disbelief. She conflated two very different matters: the electoral weakness of Israel’s dovish left, and an allegation of anti-Arab “racism” in the primary election for places on the Meretz slate contesting for seats in the Jerusalem city council in October.

The first is a major question, encapsulated in the article’s title, but hardly addressed at all. …

The second is a much smaller matter regarding an acrimonious election involving a few hundred voters.  . . .

Click through to the Open Zion blog for the rest of my piece.