I was never a big fan of Merav Michaeli during her showbiz career. But I have to admit: over the past two years, since her writing in Haaretz and political career began - I've been hooked. Now, as a newly elected Labor MK, she has the chance to live up to the high expectations many have of her. Yair Lapid, who promised his voters “new politics” but instead gave them cooperation with Naftali Bennett's right-wing Jewish Home party, could learn a bit about the real change that is needed in this place from Michaeli’s inaugural speech in the Knesset last…

With all due respect to Meretz and Hadash ...  Until yesterday, the occupation was not an issue in the Israeli election campaign; the only parties running against it were Meretz and the non-Zionist, Arab or largely Arab slates, all of which are marginal to the country's politics. But with Amir Peretz's departure from the Labor Party for Hatnuah (The Movement), where he will be No. 3 after Tzipi Livni and Amram Mitzna, there is now a mainstream party with a critical mass of leadership material at the top whose focus is on ending the conflict with the Palestinians, and whose…