The list includes 17 leaders involved in protest movements and public activism, 12 former IDF officers, 11 candidates with backgrounds in the civil service, 19 women, nine candidates under the age of 45, eight former Knesset members, four candidates from the Arab community, three from the Druze community, and two members of the LGBT community.<\/p>\n
The Democrats brings together two of the Israeli Left’s historic political parties.<\/p>\n
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Democrats party chairman Yair Golan and party Knesset member Naama Lazimi attend an election campaign event of the Democrats party in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, September 28, 2026. (credit: Sharon Leibel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
Labor, formally established in 1968 through the merger of the historic ruling party Mapai, Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi, was the successor to the movement that dominated Israeli politics from independence through the 1970s and was rooted in Labor Zionism, social democracy and the building of the Jewish state. Labor’s political history includes the governments of David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir, its first defeat in 1977, and Yitzhak Rabin’s return to power in 1992, when the party became closely associated with the Oslo peace process<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meretz, founded in 1992 through the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, emerged from the peace movement and established itself as a more explicitly dovish, secular and civil-rights-oriented force on the Israeli left. Its platform emphasized a two-state solution, human rights, equality and a social-democratic economy.<\/p>\n In recent years, the two parties struggled electorally. In 2022, Labor won a record-low four seats while Meretz fell just below the electoral threshold. In June 2024, they formally merged under the name The Democrats, describing the new party as a \u201cliberal-democratic Zionist party\u201d intended to unite their political base and ensure there would be no loss of left-wing votes, as what occurred in 2022 and brought about Netanyahu’s right-wing government.<\/p>\n Golan’s Democrats seek ‘fundamental change’ – and safeguarding the judiciary<\/p>\n According to Golan, the party\u2019s primary mission is to bring about what he calls \u201cfundamental change\u201d in Israel\u2019s political system, particularly regarding democracy, the rule of law, and government accountability.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not satisfied with slogans about a \u2018better government\u2019 or \u2018good governance.\u2019 We have come to repair and change the very system that made this disaster possible in the first place,\u201d Golan said when unveiling the party\u2019s election platform.<\/p>\n He has also pledged legislation preventing politicians under criminal indictment from serving as prime minister.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our government, there will be zero criminal defendants. Zero,\u201d Golan said. \u201cAnyone under criminal indictment cannot serve as prime minister or as a government minister.\u201d<\/p>\n The party’s political identity has been shaped in part by the anti-government and judicial-reform protest movements<\/a>. Golan has described those movements as \u201cpart of the backbone\u201d of The Democrats, while several prominent protest leaders joined the party ahead of the election, including hi-tech entrepreneur and anti-judicial reform activist Moshe Radman.<\/p>\n The party has sought to preserve the judiciary’s role as an institutional check on government power. Golan and Democrats MKs have defended Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara during the government’s attempts to fire her. Golan gave \u201cfull backing\u201d to the attorney-general and accused National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of politicizing the police.<\/p>\n Golan has also been an opponent of Ben-Gvir’s handling of crime within the Arab sector as part of his role as national security minister. He has called to combat the spike in Arab sector crime during the government’s four-year term. He has also placed an Arab candidate, Somaya Bashir, in a realistic slot on the party’s Knesset slate.<\/p>\n The party has also placed significant importance on the separation of religion and state<\/a>, with Golan calling to protect the right of businesses to operate on Shabbat where legally permitted, and has framed the issue as one of individual freedom.<\/p>\n \u201cA business that wants to open on Shabbat in a place where the law allows it, will open,\u201d he said. \u201cWhoever wants to observe Shabbat, will observe it.\u201d<\/p>\n Golan has also criticized restrictions on personal religious life, saying Israelis should not have religious authorities dictate \u201chow to marry, how to live, where to travel, or what to wear.\u201d He advocates for the state to recognize civil marriages<\/a> not done through the Chief Rabbinate.<\/p>\n Finding diplomatic solutions – and fighting against West Bank settlement expansion\u00a0<\/p>\n Golan has been a fierce critic of Netanyahu’s military approach following October 7, calling for the government to seek out diplomatic solutions over repeated rounds of fighting with its adversaries.<\/p>\n The Democrats’ predeccesors have historically supported a two-state solution, although Golan has called for a more nuanced solution following October 7. Kariv has been more explicit, saying Israel should ultimately divide the land and establish a demilitarized Palestinian state as part of a regional agreement.<\/p>\n In its platform, the party argues against annexation of the West Bank and has taken a hard-line against what it calles “escalating Jewish terror which endager the security of the state,” referring to increasing settler violence targeting Palestinian towns across the West Bank.<\/p>\n The party says it will stop state funding of newly-constructed outposts and farms in the West Bank, which it argues were established “illegally and in contradiction to security considerations.”<\/p>\n![\"Party](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/739851.jpeg\"\/)
Party member Somaya Bashir speaks during a Democrats party conference at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, July 25, 2026. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI\/FLASH90)<\/p>\n
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Yair Golan, chairman of The Democrats party, meets with newly elected party members a day after The Democrats party primaries, ahead of the upcoming elections, in Tel Aviv, Israel, July 21, 2026. (credit: Avshalom Sassoni\/ Flash90)What a vote for this party is likely to produce<\/p>\n