Tel Aviv City Councilwoman Tamar Zandberg () on Sunday declared her intention to run for the Knesset.Zandberg, 36, has a history of supporting social issues in the Tel Aviv area, including the social justice movement that began in the summer of 2011, and been a driving force behind municipal initiatives such as a motion to have public transportation on Shabbat, which the city council approved in February.Zandberg has also headed the municipality’s Committee for the Advancement of Women and the Committee for Affordable Housing.
She said she decided to run for the Knesset because “I have always been a political person and the social struggle in Israel is an opportunity for us [Meretz] to return to the center of the political stage.”Zandberg said she will contend for one of the top five seats on the party’s candidate’s list. Meretz currently has three MKs.When asked whether the Labor Party is a better home for social justice-driven politicians as it is headed by Shelly Yacimovich and recently recruited social justice protest leader Stav Shaffir, Zandberg said, “I don’t see us as rivals of the Labor Party. The goal should be to enlarge the size of the leftwing parties, and if we fight one another we won’t help Israeli society.”She added, though, that “Meretz has always been on the Left and Labor has at times moved more toward the Center,” before clarifying that “I would be very happy if Shelly [Yacimovich] would be prime minister and Labor would have Meretz in its government.”Zandberg said that if she makes it in the Knesset she will try to advance initiatives similar to those she put forward in the city council, including public transportation on Shabbat.TA councilwoman throws hat into the Knesset ring
Tel Aviv City Councilwoman Tamar Zandberg (Meretz) declared her intention to run for the Knesset.
