Israel’s largest left-wing party launched its campaign on Monday for the legislative election due in October, unveiling a candidate list chosen in recent primaries and centring its message on accountability and security. Led by former deputy military chief of staff Yair Golan, HaDemokratim — or the Democrats — is a merger of the historic Labour Party and Meretz, which failed to pass the electoral threshold in 2022. Party polls project it could win roughly 10 seats.
Speaking in Tel Aviv surrounded by new candidates, Golan said the party’s immediate priority would be to establish a commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The pledge places the party’s campaign squarely on questions of national security and government oversight.
HaDemokratim is positioned as the principal non-Arab advocate of a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is widely seen as the political heir to Mapai, the party of Israel’s founding leader David Ben‑Gurion. The merger follows the left’s poor showing in the last election, when the faction secured just four Knesset seats — its worst result.
Key figures on the Democrats’ list include lawyer Gaby Lasky, the former secretary-general of the anti-settlement NGO Peace Now, and Moshe Radman, a prominent leader of the protest movement against the outgoing government. Their inclusion signals an attempt to blend human-rights activism and civic protest energy with military and political experience.
The party launch in Tel Aviv marks the formal start of HaDemokratim’s drive to regain influence ahead of the October vote, as it seeks to translate renewed visibility and its inquiry pledge into broader voter support.
Original Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/israels-leading-leftist-party-launches-electoral-campaign-11798313#publisher=newsstand
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Publish Date: 2026-07-21 01:11:00
