Meretz apologizes for calling Barak "Not Normal"

Party removes banners, says typing mistake made unintentionally.

By SHELLY PAZ
Barak 248.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
Barak 248.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
A Meretz Internet ad calling Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak "not normal" was removed on Tuesday, following harsh criticism from Labor. Meretz apologized, claiming the ad contained a typographical error that was not intentional. Meretz's on-line campaign includes an ad depicting an unseen hand "spray-painting" over the big parties' posters in white, after which the ad declares, "We deserve something better." They hadn't attracted undue attention until Monday, when, in one of the ads, the poster being spray-painted proved to be a spoof of the current Barak poster that declares him "Not Trendy, Not Nice, Not a Friend - a Leader." The "poster" in this case declared Barak to be "Not trendy, Not a Friend and Not Normal." MK Shelly Yacimovich, who heads Labor's campaign response team, attacked the Meretz ads on Tuesday, calling them a disgrace. "While Barak is busy fending off attacks from the Right that call for a war at any cost, Meretz is busy with its small-time, limitless and shameful politics," Yacimovich said. Labor secretary-general MK Eitan Cabel petitioned the Central Elections Committee to get the ads removed. On Tuesday evening, Meretz pulled the ads and issued an apology, saying, "The ad contained a typographical error. There was no intention to attack Barak. Barak is not trendy and not a friend, but he is certainly normal."