Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is seriously considering an idea for an "Israeli Democratic Party" floated by Justice Minister Yossi Beilin, reported Haaretz newspaper Friday.
According to the paper, the concept is for a large political front to include the Labor Party, Meimad, Meretz, the Center Party, Shinui, One Nation, Democratic Choice, and some of the Arab factions.
Beilin's idea suggests the new party's candidate for prime minister would be elected in open primaries by all the voters of the bloc, said the paper.
Sources in the Barak's office told the paper that he is also considering other means of creating as large a bloc as possible in preparation for the next elections.
The sources said he would like to include as many parties as possible, including some from the right wing.
Beilin rejects a "supermarket of left and right" but believes there is a liberal-democratic group in the Likud that belongs in a large democratic movement, said one source.
The minister met representatives of Meretz, the Center Party, Meimad, Democratic Choice, and One Nation to discuss the idea, said the paper, adding that he will meet next week Shinui leader, MK Yosef Lapid.
But the paper said that Meretz leader, Yossi Sarid, rejected Beilin's idea. "That's all I need - joining forces with the Labor Party. I don't see what's so enticing about the Labor Party that I should want to join it," Sarid said.
He told Haaretz that he "supports opening ranks to create a social-democratic body with a more radical agenda, but it should be done on an individual rather than a party basis."
"I have no problem joining with Beilin and Barak, but not with the entire Labor Party," Sarid told Haaretz - Albawaba.com
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