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Signs of Cautious Hope on the Israeli Left

One interesting development on the left is the new joint Jewish-Arab “Place for All of Us” Party, founded by leaders of Standing Together.

Although we know that the Israeli public has moved to the right, particularly the younger generation, as the Israeli elections scheduled for October 27 draw near, something is happening on the Israeli left.

On Monday, July 20, the new Democrats Party held its primary to select its candidates for the upcoming elections. The party is a merger between the left-Zionist parties Labor and Meretz and activists from the mass pro-democracy movement, against the attempt to undermine the independence of the courts and freedom of expression that brought some 150,000 people into the streets every week before the war began on October 7.

The enthusiasm generated by the new party motivated over 114,000 people to register as members, making it the second-largest membership party after Netanyahu’s Likud—which has 140,000 members. The party is led by former IDF deputy chief of staff Yair Golan, who lost his chance to become chief of staff when he stated on Holocaust Memorial Day in 2016 that “if there is one thing that frightens me in remembering the Holocaust, it is identifying horrifying processes that took place in Europe…particularly in Germany…and finding signs of them here among us in 2016.” The 64-year-old Golan, who started out in politics in Meretz, became a hero on October 7 when he got into a car, went south, and rescued a number of young Israeli civilians who were hiding in the woods from the murderous attack by Hamas.

The excitement generated by the primary was partly due to the new digital system that created a sense of genuine ownership of the process. All members were sent a link via WhatsApp and e-mail that when opened contained the names and photos of 51 candidates for the Knesset list. The list was composed of veteran Knesset members and activists from both Labor and Meretz, as well as many key activists from the protest movement and veterans of the security establishment who believe that diplomacy and a quest for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be a central aim of the next government. Ninety-seven thousand members actually voted, 87 percent of the total membership. Also noteworthy is the equal number of male and female candidates.

The only other parties that hold a primary are the Likud and Smotrich’s smaller religious Zionist party, though Netanyahu is trying to control the process and is considering even canceling the primary. All the other parties have their candidates chosen by their leaders or institutions.

In the polls, the Democrats consistently receive an average of 10 or 11 seats among the 120 Knesset members. That would probably lead to the party’s having three ministers in an alternative government, as well as heading important Knesset committees.

A second important segment of the Israeli left is the four predominantly Arab parties, the leftist coalition Hadash (formed by the Communists and others), the secular Arab nationalist Ta’al, the United Arab List moderate Islamic Ra’am, and the secular nationalist Balad. Ra’am was the first Arab party to be a full partner in an Israeli government, the “Government of Change” led by Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid in 2021. All four parties are dedicated to defeating Netanyahu’s government, and to removing the fascist follower of Rabbi Meir Kahane Itamar Ben-Gvir from his post as minister of internal security. An average of only 45 to 50 percent of the Arabs vote in national elections, compared to 70 percent in the Jewish........

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