Will Israel's pro-cannabis party pass the Knesset threshold?

According to the party's statement, 71% percent of the Israeli public currently supports regulation of the cannabis market.

By SARA RUBENSTEIN
Updated: JANUARY 7, 2019 18:52
THE BREATH OF LIFE Pharma facility in central Israel may very well be the largest medical cannabis operation in the world – with a 3,250-sq.m. production plant, 2,790 sq.m. of grow rooms and labs, and 93,000 sq.m. of cultivation fields. (photo credit: BREATH OF LIFE PHARMA)
THE BREATH OF LIFE Pharma facility in central Israel may very well be the largest medical cannabis operation in the world – with a 3,250-sq.m. production plant, 2,790 sq.m. of grow rooms and labs, and 93,000 sq.m. of cultivation fields.
(photo credit: BREATH OF LIFE PHARMA)
The liberal Green Leaf Party announced on Monday that according to recent surveys that show the party receiving more than 2% of votes, it has a high chance of passing the Knesset threshold in 2019 for the first time.
They also announced the appointment of Cannabis Magazine editor Oren Leibowitz as the party’s chairman on Monday.
This will be Leibowitz’s second term as head of the party, after an unsuccessful campaign in the 2015 elections, when the party failed to pass the percentage threshold to enter the Knesset but won the highest number of votes it has received since its establishment.
In the past four years, party members have been active in the media, promoted social action and participated in Knesset committees. The party has advanced the issue of cannabis and medical cannabis to a spectacular turnaround in Israeli public opinion. According to the party’s statement, 71% percent of the Israeli public currently supports regulation of the cannabis market.
The party has also been in the process of joining Liberal International, the international organization of liberal parties for the past year-and-a-half.
Green Leaf will soon begin its election campaign and present a platform that focuses on the values of innovation, science, freedom and love of Israel.
The party intends to carry out a number of goals relating to various issues of Israeli society, including advancement of education, promotion of private cooperative transport such as Uber, the “Peace Index” plan to relate to BDS and Israel’s relations with the Palestinians, and last but not least, the regulation of the cannabis market and medical cannabis in Israel.
Leibowitz, who has led the Israeli movement to change the cannabis law for nearly a decade, ended his role as editor of the Cannabis Magazine on Monday, and will focus on trying to bring the party beyond the Knesset threshold for the first time over the next three months.