Is Meretz a socialist group?

Meretz is not socialist in the American sense of the term. In the past, Mapam - one of the two-and-a-half parties that coalesced to create Meretz - was the leading socialist party of Israel. But the socialist origins of one of Meretz' forebears are about as relevant to Israeli political life today as are the fascist origins of the Likud.

Mapam is still the preeminent force on many Israeli kibbutzim (collective settlements), but the socialism it espouses today is a far cry from the socialism of the early twentieth century. If it were otherwise, then Mapam would not have been able to join forces with the a largely-urban human-rights-oriented Ratz party and the liberal/free-market Shinui party. (This refers to the old Shinui under Amnon Rubinstein and Mordechai Virshuvski, not to its current metamorphosis under Tommy Lapid).

It should be remembered that many, if not most, of the pioneering settlers were socialist, and to a large extent Israel owes its existence to their idealism and self-sacrificing spirit. But since the mid-1950's, as socialism has gradually become less relevant to Israeli society, Israeli political groups have increasingly defined themselves by other criteria, such as their platform on peace and security. That is why, for instance, nobody raised an eyebrow when a Minister of Communication from Meretz opened up the Israeli telecommunications market in the early 90's and ushered in the first big wave of privatizations of government companies.

Nonetheless, Meretz considers itself a leading voice for the rights of workers, which is one aspect of its tradition of championing the rights of the oppressed. Meretz' social platform emphasizes not only economic well-being of the country at large but also social justice, which is why it has traditionally defended poor and politically-weak sectors (Israeli Arabs, women, gays, new immigrants, foreign workers, non-Orthodox religious Jews, Christians, etc.) against the prevailing political and economic powers of the day. In that sense Meretz has retained the social-action zeal of some of its predecessors, and Meretz today fits nicely into the European model of a social democratic party.