Meri ( he, מר"י, an acronym for ''Mahaneh Radikali Yisraeli'' (Hebrew: ), lit. ''Israeli Radical Camp'') was a small radical

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. It was founded in the 1960s as HaOlam HaZeh – Koah Hadash by

Uri Avnery Uri Avnery ( he, אורי אבנרי, also transliterated Uri Avneri; 10 September 1923 – 20 August 2018) was an Israeli writer, politician, and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement. A member of the Irgun as a teenager, Avnery sat for tw ...

, editor of ''

HaOlam HaZeh ''HaOlam HaZeh'' ( he, העולם הזה, lit. ''This World'') was a weekly news magazine published in Israel until 1993. The magazine was founded in 1937 under the name ''Tesha BaErev'' (Hebrew: תשע בערב, ''Nine in the Evening'') but was ...

''.

History

The party was founded by

, editor and owner of the anti-establishment ''

'' news magazine, and was the first major radical party in Israel. It surprisingly passed the

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...

in the 1965 election, gaining 1.2% of the vote and one seat, taken by Avnery. The 1969 election saw the party pick up two seats, with fellow ''HaOlam HaZeh'' journalist and owner Shalom Cohen taking the second seat. However, disagreements between Avnery and Cohen led to the party breaking up on 4 January 1972. Cohen served the remainder of the Knesset session as an independent MK, whilst on 3 July 1973 Avnery renamed the party Meri. The party included members of Aki and former members of Siah on its list for the 1973 elections, but it failed to cross the electoral threshold and Avnery lost his seat. Prior to the 1977 elections, the party merged with

Moked Moked ( he, מוקד, lit. "Focus") was a left-wing political party in Israel. Background Moked came into existence during the seventh Knesset, when Maki (which had one seat, held by Shmuel Mikunis) merged with the Blue-Red Movement, which was ...

, the Independent Socialist Faction and some members of the Black Panthers to form the

Left Camp of Israel The Left Camp of Israel ( he, מחנה שמאל לישראל, ''Maḥaneh Smol LeYisrael'') was a Israeli left-wing politics, left-wing List of political parties in Israel, political party in Israel. It was also known as Sheli ( he, של"י), an ...

. The new party won two seats, which were rotated between five party members, including Avnery. However, they failed to win any seats in the 1981 elections and did not reappear in the Knesset.

References

External links

Ha-olam Hazeh - Koah Hadash
Knesset website
Radical Camp of Israel (Meri)
Knesset website {{Israeli political parties Far-left politics in Israel Socialist parties in Israel Far-left political parties Defunct political parties in Israel