A Conversation with Meretz Chair, Zehava Galon, Ahead of Israel’s November 1st Elections
The upcoming elections, Israel’s fifth in less than four years, are once again taking place in the shadow of a palpable threat to democracy there, amid the continuing rise of extremist, authoritarian currents in Israeli politics and society. Galon, who was previously Meretz’s leader between 2012-2018, and had been serving as president of Zulat, the thinktank she founded in 2020, came out of political retirement this summer to help support the efforts of her party and the anti-Netanyahu political bloc as a whole. Following a hotly contested leadership primary, Galon emerged victorious and has taken up the party’s reins with energy and zeal.
Galon spoke with Partner for Progressive Israel vice president, Gili Getz, and discussed a variety of topics, such as the Occupation, Jewish-Arab partnership, the meaning of “Zionism” today, the Orthodox monopoly over religion in Israel, and, of course, the upcoming elections and the role that Meretz would seek to play in a future governing coalition.
A Q&A followed the conversation.