| Election Name: | 1996 Meretz leadership election |
| Flag Image: | Meretz (1992).png |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Next Election: | 1999 Meretz leadership election |
| Next Year: | 1999 |
| Election Date: | 22 October 1996 |
| Image1: | Yossi Sarid.JPG |
| Candidate1: | Yossi Sarid |
| Meretz leader | |
| Posttitle: | Meretz leader |
| After Election: | Yossi Sarid |
The 1996 Meretz leadership election was held on 22 October 1996.[1] It saw the election of Yossi Sarid to succeed Shulamit Aloni as the party's leader.[2] This was the first leadership election in the party's history.[2] The election was held by a vote of Meretz' Party Council.[2] Incumbent party leader Aloni had announced her retirement after Sarid had announced his intent to challenge her for party leadership. This came amid disputes between the party's leadership.[3]
Meretz was formed prior to the 1992 Israeli legislative election by an alliance of three left-wing political parties, Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was initially led by Ratz's chairwoman and long-time Knesset member Shulamit Aloni. The party proceeded to win twelve seats in the election, making it the third-largest in the Knesset. Meretz became the major coalition partner of Yitzhak Rabin's Labor Party, helping pave the way for the Oslo Accords.[4] The party also picked up several ministerial portfolios; Aloni was made Minister of Education, then Minister of Communications and Science and Technology,[5] while other party members including Amnon Rubinstein, Yossi Sarid and Yair Tzaban received additional portfolios.[6]