The Democrats party held its primary election Monday, with MK Naama Lazimi taking the number-two spot on the left-wing party’s electoral slate, following leader Yair Golan.

Lazimi is followed by MK Gilad Kariv, a Reform rabbi; MK Efrat Rayten; liberal activist Yaya Fink; former Meretz MK Gaby Lasky; anti-government activist and reservist Omri Ronen; former Meretz MK Michal Rozin; anti-government protest leader Moshe Radman; Muslim Arab coexistence advocate Somaya Bashir; and former Air Force general Nimrod Sheffer, who round out the top 10 elected candidates.

Golan was elected leader of the party in a separate race in 2024 when it formed, following the alliance of the Labor and Meretz parties, and is therefore not competing in today’s primaries. This is the new party’s first-ever primary, and the first election in which it is competing.

Labor, the center-left party whose predecessors once dominated Israeli politics, held primaries throughout its history, as did the left-wing Meretz.

Twenty candidates were elected in Monday’s vote from a field of 51 contenders. The party is expected to win 10 or 11 seats in the 120-seat Knesset ahead of the October 27 election, according to consistent polling by Hebrew media, including The Times of Israel’s sister site, Zman Yisrael.

According to the party, 97,000 of its 112,376 registered members cast ballots, marking an 86 percent turnout in what it described as the first fully online primary in Israeli politics, conducted using a secure digital voting system.

Lazimi has emerged as one of the more prominent and recognizable left-wing lawmakers in........

© The Times of Israel