JERUSALEM (JTA) — Left-wing Meretz Party leader Zehava Galon is resigning from Knesset.

Galon made the announcement on Wednesday, after meeting with Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein. She said she will dedicate the next few months to working to strengthening the party. She said she wanted to make the party open to new people and would help the party to achieve this by changing its internal election system, Ynet reported.

She will be replaced in Knesset by Meretz Secretary-General Mossi Raz. The party currently has five seats in the Knesset and sits in the opposition.

Galon, 61, was first elected to Knesset in 1999, and has served as chairman of the Meretz party since 2012.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday afternoon Galon wrote that she is leaving the Knesset with a “heavy heart.”

“I love the Knesset but I love Meretz more, and I know that if Meretz does not open itself up it will cease to exist. The left is a much larger audience than the number of people who voted for Meretz. To fullfil that potential, Meretz must change,” she wrote.

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