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As most of Israeli politics has moved to the right since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel, one party is attempting to reverse that trend. Israel’s left-wing Democrats party held primaries Tuesday that elected peace activists, Arab-Israeli leaders and veterans of the anti-Netanyahu protest movement — offering a glimpse of how it hopes to rebuild Israel’s fractured left.
The effort is being led by an unlikely figure. Party leader Yair Golan is a former IDF major general who spent nearly four decades in the military before becoming one of Israel’s most outspoken left-wing politicians.
According to polls, the Democrats are now one of the most significant opposition parties trying to unseat Netanyahu, with polls projecting the party will win 10 to11 seats in the upcoming elections scheduled for Oct. 27. Though the next Prime Minister almost certainly won’t come from the Democrats, they are slated to provide the opposition with a meaningful bloc of seats, and if elected, several Israeli cabinet ministers could be plucked from its ranks.
Though the Democrats are one of the only political parties in Israel that hold primaries, the online primaries on Monday drew a massive turnout, with 86% of the party’s 112,376 registered party members casting their votes. Religious Zionism, the political party of Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, also holds a primary, which will take place on Sunday.
The Democrats formed in 2024 after Labor and Meretz — both left-leaning parties with dwindling constituencies — combined. The Labor party had enjoyed a long history in Israeli politics, and produced several former Israeli prime ministers, including the first, David Ben-Gurion. In 1992, the party, then headed by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, won 44 seats. But in Israel’s last elections in 2022, they secured only four.
Over the past several years, and particularly since the Oct. 7 attacks, the Israeli left has shrunk. The percentage of Israelis who define themselves as left-wing in 2025 was 12% compared to 20% in 2019 according to Democracy Institute (IDI) surveys.
In younger generations of Israelis, the trend is even clearer. According to a January 2023 study done by the Israel Democracy Institute, 73% of Israeli Jews between the ages of 15 and 24 self-identify as being on the right. In contrast, only 46% of Israelis over the age of 65 identify the same way.
But while Israel’s left has shrunk, its remaining supporters appear unusually committed. A July survey by the institute found that only one-third of Israelis believe there is a political party that closely represents their views. Among the Democrats’ voters, however, roughly 63% said the party closely represents their political beliefs.
Today, the Democrats are the most politically significant left-wing party in Israel (the Israeli-Palestinian peace group Standing Together launched a political party this summer called Makom Lekulanu, though it is doubtful they will secure enough votes to win even one Knesset seat). And though much attention has been given to what Israel’s future could look like if Netanyahu loses this fall, the current frontrunners of the opposition bloc seeking to unseat Netanyahu are not left-wing.
Former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, who among potential challengers to Netanyahu currently leads many polls, has been labeled as center-right. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who trails behind him, identifies as right-wing, supports Israeli settlements in the West Bank and rejects a two-state solution.
In April, Bennett and centrist Yair Lapid announced that they would run in this year’s election in a shared party called Yachad, or Together — an alliance that further illustrates how the opposition’s center of gravity has moved away from the left.
But it is clear the Democrats’ leader Golan sees the party as critical to the survival of the left in Israel, even if Netanyahu is successfully dethroned.
On Monday, he said while unveiling the Knesset slate, “Without strong and influential Democrats in the next government, the entire bloc for change will very quickly slide to the right.”
Golan supports a two-state solution, opposes settlement expansion and has made a concerted effort to engage Arab citizens of Israel, frequently publishing campaign materials in Arabic and speaking directly to Arab voters.
Yet the very qualities that distinguish the Democrats could also complicate coalition-building. Their left-wing agenda differs sharply from that of staunchly right-wing opposition figures like current Knesset member Avigdor Lieberman, who is expected to play a key role in any post-Netanyahu government.
Golan’s criticism of Israel’s conduct during the war has also made him one of the country’s most polarizing opposition figures. In a May 2025 interview, he said of Israel becoming a pariah state, “A sane country does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not set for itself goals of population expulsion.” The comment sparked outrage, with several Israeli politicians criticizing him for spreading blood libel and betraying the IDF.
Following the remarks, Defense Minister Israel Katz banned Golan from serving reserve duty, wearing military uniforms and entering army bases.
Winners of the Democrats’ primaries include Naama Lazimi, a Knesset member who has been active in anti-Netanyahu protests, even facing clashes with police; Gilad Kariv, a Reform rabbi who led the efforts to establish an egalitarian praying platform at the Western Wall; Somaya Bashir, an Arab-Israeli coexistence leader, and several other left-wing activists who could be poised to become ministers if a new Israeli government is elected.
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