Meretz

Meretz (Hebrew: מֶרֶצ, lit. 'Vigour'; Arabic: ميرتس) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It had no seats in the Knesset following its failure to pass the electoral threshold in the 2022 elections, the only time it failed to win seats in the Knesset.

Meretz was a social democratic and secular party emphasising a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, social justice, human rights (especially for religious, ethnic and sexual minorities), religious freedom and environmentalism. The party was a member of the Progressive Alliance and Socialist International, and was an observer member of the Party of European Socialists. The party's position on Zionism was disputed.

On 30 June 2024 the party agreed to merge with the Israeli Labor Party to form a new party, the Democrats. Under the merger agreement, there will be one Meretz representative in every four spots on the new party's electoral list as well as on the party bodies, and there will also be representation for Meretz's municipal factions. The agreement was ratified at a convention of delegates from both Meretz and Labor on 12 July 2024. Under the agreement, Meretz and Labor continue as separate corporate and budgetary entities, and their factions in the Histadrut, municipal councils and other bodies outside the Knesset will not be unified at this stage but will cooperate.