The Meretz party convention on Sunday evening approved the agreement with Ehud Barak’s Israel Democratic party for a joint run in the upcoming elections. As part of the agreement, the head of the united list, named the Democratic Union, will be Meretz chairman Nitzan Horowitz. In addition, the party's members and Knesset members will be placed at the top of the list. MK Tamar Zandberg said at the convention, "For too many years, the left has been battered. Today the left is a source of pride, people join it, they are not afraid of it. Today we are joined by other partners on the basis of our ability to create a broad, proud and courageous leftist front, and this, before everything else, is worth the move we are making here today." Meretz and Israel Democratic announced last Thursday they have decided to run for the Knesset as part of a joint list. They were joined by MK Stav Shafir, who left the Labor party. According to the agreement, the parties agreed not to join a right-wing government, to defend the democratic character of the state, with an emphasis on the Supreme Court, to abolish the Nationality Law and to promote peace and a political settlement with the Palestinian Arabs.
