Stav Shaffir, once a star MK, announces break from politics
She was not offered what she saw as a realistic slot on the combined Labor-Gesher-Meretz list for the March race.
By GIL HOFFMANStav Shaffir announces that she will not run for Knesset in the March 2 election in an address on Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard, January 15, 2020(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/ MAARIV)
Democratic Union MK Stav Shaffir announced on Wednesday that she would not run for Knesset in the March 2 election in an address on Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard, where she made a name for herself by pitching a tent during the 2011 socioeconomic protests.Shaffir left Labor and negotiated the formation of the Democratic Union, which combined Meretz, the Green Party and allies of former prime minister Ehud Bark ahead of the September election. But she was not offered what she saw as a realistic slot on the combined Labor-Gesher-Meretz list for the March race.Members of the Green party that Shaffir headed pressured her to run as head of the party, but she decided not to split the vote on the Left.Shaffir said forming the bond on the Left was the right thing to do, even though she paid a price. She cited polls indicating that the Green Party could win three or four seats but said the top goal must be "removing from office the head of the Mafia," referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "The fate of the State of Israel is more important than any seat in the Knesset," Shaffir said. "In this election, I will not run for Knesset but I will still run to serve the country.Shaffir, 34, was first elected to Knesset with Labor in 2013. She vowed to build the Green Party to be ready to be a protest movement in the next election."We will take our movement out to the streets, the cities and neighborhoods to build our tomorrow and return stronger," she said.
