Secularist Leader to Bow Out of Politics
Yossi Sarid, the acid-tongued opponent of hawkish Israelis and ultra-Orthodox Jews who try to impose limits on the secular majority, said he would retire from Israeli politics after 31 years in the parliament.
Sarid, 65, served as head of the dovish Meretz Party, resigning after a stinging electoral defeat in 2003 cut the party’s strength. He said he would not run in the March 28 election.
He is best known for slouching in parliament, hurling barbed comments at speakers, his deep voice a reminder of his former job as a radio announcer.
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