The Democrats is an Israeli Zionist-left political party formed in 2024 through the union of the Israeli Labor Party and Meretz. Led by former IDF deputy chief of staff Yair Golan, the party defines itself as Zionist, liberal, democratic, and social-democratic. It should not be confused with the Democratic Party in the United States.
The party’s formation followed the Israeli left’s poor performance in the November 2022 election. Labor received 3.69% of the vote and won four Knesset seats, its weakest electoral showing to that point. Meretz received 3.16%, narrowly missing the 3.25% electoral threshold and losing its parliamentary representation for the first time. The results strengthened calls to unite the two parties and avoid dividing the Zionist-left vote in future elections.
Golan campaigned for the Labor leadership on a pledge to unite Labor, Meretz, and activists associated with protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and its proposed judicial overhaul. He won the Labor leadership election on May 28, 2024, with 95% of the vote. Labor and Meretz announced their agreement on June 30, describing the new organization as a “liberal-democratic Zionist party.” Their governing bodies approved the union on July 12.
Although its leaders presented The Democrats as a unified party rather than a temporary electoral alliance, the merger was initially incomplete in legal and financial terms. Labor and Meretz retained separate corporate and budgetary entities, partly because both carried debts from previous election campaigns. The four Knesset members elected on Labor’s 2022 slate became the parliamentary representatives of The Democrats but continued to be formally identified as the Labor faction. In February 2025, the Knesset House Committee declined a request to rename the faction.
The Democrats’ platform emphasizes the protection of democratic institutions and judicial independence. It supports enacting a Basic Law regulating legislation, strengthening government legal advisers and other institutional “gatekeepers,” protecting freedom of the press, and amending the Nation-State Law in accordance with the principles of Israel’s Declaration of Independence. The party favors civil marriage, limited public transportation on Shabbat in secular communities, broader recognition of non-Orthodox conversions, and greater authority for local governments.
Economically, The Democrats favors social-democratic policies, including stronger public education, healthcare and welfare services, expanded affordable housing, protection of organized Labor, and measures to reduce the cost of living. It advocates universal military or national service, including the conscription of ultra-Orthodox men.
On security and diplomacy, the party calls for removing Hamas from power, returning the hostages, and maintaining Israel’s ability to act against terrorist organizations. It supports cooperation with moderate regional states, opposes annexation and renewed Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip, and favors an eventual two-state arrangement separating Israel from the Palestinians. Golan has argued that the Palestinian Authority, with Arab and international assistance, should participate in governing Gaza after Hamas.
The party sought to expand beyond the traditional Labor and Meretz electorate by recruiting leaders of the anti-government protest movement, former military officers, social activists, and representatives of Israel’s Arab and Druze communities. On July 20, 2026, it held its first primary to choose a Knesset slate for the October 27 election. The party reported that approximately 97,000 of its 112,376 members voted online, an 86% turnout. Following Golan, the highest positions went to MKs Naama Lazimi, Gilad Kariv, and Efrat Rayten. The slate also included former Meretz legislators, protest leaders, retired officers, and Arab activists.
Sources: “The Democrats,” Israel Democracy Institute.
Sam Sokol, “Labor and Meretz Merge into United ‘Liberal-Democratic Zionist Party’: The Democrats,” Times of Israel, (June 30, 2024).
Assaf Shapira, “Labor and Meretz Merge to Form ‘The Democrats’ - Consequences and Implications,” Israel Democracy Institute, (July 4, 2024).
Keshet Neev, “Democrats Announce Knesset Slate Ahead of Elections,” Jerusalem Post, (July 20, 2026).
Ariela Karmel, “Naama Lazimi Wins No. 2 Spot After Yair Golan in Left-Wing Democrats Primary,” Times of Israel, (July 20, 2026).
Photo: הדמוקרטים, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.