Messianism is an adherence to a worldview not in a rational way, but out of an emotional sense, which involves, in many cases, the personality of a charismatic leader.
Udi Lebel (in this section yesterday) actually defined Meretz, on her 30th birthday, as someone whose enlightenment stems from messianism.
It can be assumed that he is not comfortable with the definition of settlement movements in the occupied territories as messianic (as defined by the then Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon), and that he believes that if he calls the most rational and liberal party in the Knesset, he may be too optimistic.
Meretz never held the position of a ruling party, nor did it serve as a party that is part of the government for many years.
Her main role, throughout her years of existence, was that of the herd in the herd - she saw before others the dangers involved in occupying the territories, as a Zionist and democratic party she read the demographic map, and also understood that norms of control over another people would trickle into Israeli society.
Seeing Israel as the state of the Jewish people and all its citizens has been proven to be the only correct way to deal with the built-in tension between parts of Israeli society.
Meretz supported any peace plan that met this definition, as it supported unilateral withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza, although it preferred to reach peace agreements (with Syria and the Palestinians), and will do so in the future if there are such agreements or reservations.
On the other hand, it was the Messianic right that consistently opposed the division of Western Israel and thus brought us closer to the loss of the Jewish majority in Israel.
It began with his opposition to the 1937 Phil Plan and the UN partition plan ten years later, to the opposition of the Messianic right to the peace treaty with Egypt, to the agreement between King Hussein and then-Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and to the Oslo Accords.
It was the Messianic right - this time led by the then leader of the opposition, Ariel Sharon - who set out on a provocation campaign on the Temple Mount in September 2000, causing the "Al-Aqsa Intifada" to break out the next day.
And from the Messianic right came the two people responsible - from the Israeli side - for the dramatic damage to the peace process: Baruch Goldstein and Yigal Amir.
Not in all its steps was Meretz charitable nor in all the statements made by its leaders, but it can successfully deal with any other political factor in proving the righteousness of its path - both in its pioneering in the fight for environmental protection and in the fight for human rights and their expansion.
She has withstood many tests and faced quite a few temptations.
It also knew how to reach compromises and understandings, and joining a government led by Naftali Bennett, despite its opposition to a two-state solution and its unwillingness to meet with the pragmatic Palestinian leadership committed to peace with Israel, is the largest and most justified compromise the party has made in its history.
Meretz is run by a group of responsible, patriotic and realistic people, and its presence in government is of great importance not only to the center-left but to the entire political map, as we are all minorities in one area or another and we all need legislators and decision makers to protect us from messianism. .
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