"The connection is a natural one and offers the Israeli public a real alternative."
By EHUD ZION WALDOKSmelchior 224.88 aj(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Meimad and the new Green Movement Party announced Wednesday night that they will run on a joint list for the 18th Knesset. Meimad chairman MK Michael Melchior and Green Movement head Eran Ben-Yemini will lead the candidates list.
Melchior and Green Movement founders Ben-Yemini and Alon Tal have a long history of working together, they said in a statement. Melchior has been one of the premier environmental legislators during his time in the Knesset and is co-chairman of the Environmental-Social Lobby along with MK Dov Henin (Hadash).
The Green Movement's secretariat agreed in principle to the move and will bring it to a vote of its members at a general assembly on Friday.
The Meimad Council granted Melchior the authority to negotiate the details of the deal on behalf of the party.
Meimad recently dissolved its joint list with the Labor Party. Former Labor MK Ami Ayalon joined the Meimad list not long ago in the top position, and then announced he was leaving politics.
The Green Movement is not to be confused with the Greens or the Green Leaf Party, two separate political parties.
"Ten years of environmental and social parliamentary activity made us ripe for this very necessary connection at this time," Melchior said in a statement.
"Eran Ben-Yemini, founder of Green Course, stands at the head of the real green movement and after a collaboration of long standing in environmental battles there is nothing more natural than the connection between the two movements," he said.
Ben-Yemini was full of praise for Melchior.
"We fought shoulder-to-shoulder in the environmental field and now we will fight together for the public's trust. The connection between the Green Movement and Meimad is a natural one and offers the Israeli public a real alternative to the existing parties and patterns of thinking," he said.
"For more than a year we have been building the foundation of the Green Movement, which the veterans and founders of the environmental and social organizations are part of. Rabbi Melchior is a significant ally of the environmental movement who has helped in the battles of the environmental organizations in the Knesset and the government."
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