Meretz voters elect Tamar Zandberg as new leader

Zandberg won 71% of the votes and will now lead Meretz.

By GIL HOFFMAN
Updated: MARCH 22, 2018 23:19
Tamar Zandberg after being elected leader of Meretz (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/ MAARIV)
Tamar Zandberg after being elected leader of Meretz
(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/ MAARIV)
MK Tamar Zandberg is the new leader of Meretz after she won the first ever leadership primary held in the left-wing party on Thursday.
Zandberg will replace Zehava Gal-On, who dropped out of the race after leading the party for six years.
"Something is happening in Meretz," Zandberg said in her victory speech. "We were eulogized, but Meretz is coming back big time. We will be part of the revolution that the people of Israel need."
She won 71% of the vote. Former Peace Now secretary-general Avi Buskila finished second with 28.5%.
Zandberg thanked Buskila and said he and his supporters would help move the party forward.
The turnout was only 53.6% among some 31,679 eligible voters, with 16,954 casting ballots.
Zandberg promised in campaign stops throughout the day that the party would win 10 seats in the next election.  
Gal-On wished her well, saying that "Israeli politics can be a cruel mine field and the main battles still lie ahead, but I am sure you will handle them with honor and determination."