Signs of Cautious Hope on the Israeli Left

Israeli Opposition Parties Hold Primaries and Form Alliances Ahead of October Elections

Although surveys indicate that Israeli public opinion has shifted rightward in recent years, including among younger voters, several opposition parties are organizing ahead of the elections set for October 27. One development involves the Democrats Party, formed through a merger of the Labor and Meretz parties with participants from the 2023 pro-democracy protests against judicial reform legislation.

On July 20, the Democrats Party conducted a primary using a digital voting system to rank candidates for its Knesset list. The process drew 114,000 registered members, second only to Likud’s reported 140,000. Ninety-seven thousand members cast ballots, representing 87 percent of those registered. The resulting list includes sitting and former Knesset members from Labor and Meretz, protest organizers, and former security officials who have advocated diplomatic engagement with the Palestinians. The list maintains gender parity. Party leader Yair Golan, a former deputy chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, received attention during the October 7, 2023, attacks for assisting civilians in the south. Golan had previously drawn notice in 2016 for remarks comparing certain domestic trends to events in 1930s Europe.

Current polling averages place the Democrats at 10 or 11 seats in the 120-member Knesset. Such a result would position the party to hold ministerial posts and committee chairs in a potential alternative coalition. Only Likud and the Religious Zionism party also select candidates through primaries; other parties determine lists through leadership or institutional decisions.

Four Arab-majority parties—Hadash, Ta’al, Ra’am, and Balad—continue to operate separately after running jointly in 2020. Ra’am participated in the 2021 coalition government. Polls currently project these parties collectively winning 10 or 11 seats, down from 15 in the earlier joint-list election. Turnout among Arab citizens has historically averaged 45 to 50 percent, compared with roughly 70 percent among Jewish citizens. Party statements indicate a shared goal of replacing the current government and removing Itamar Ben-Gvir from the internal security portfolio.

Analysts note that lower Arab turnout could affect the arithmetic needed for an opposition-led government. The Democrats remain the only Jewish-led opposition party that has explicitly endorsed Arab parties as coalition partners. Public opinion surveys have shown resistance among some Jewish voters to such arrangements following the October 7 attacks.

Former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot launched the Yashar party and has moved ahead of Naftali Bennett in some surveys as a potential head of an alternative government. Bennett, who leads the Beyachad party with Yair Lapid, has described himself as a right-of-center liberal opposed to a Palestinian state. Eisenkot, who lost family members in Gaza operations, has avoided detailed public statements on Palestinian statehood or Arab-party partnerships while seeking support from right-leaning voters. He has criticized aspects of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Iran policy, including support for U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement, and has described the agreement as having constrained Iranian activity at the time. Netanyahu has characterized Eisenkot as aligned with the left; Eisenkot’s Moroccan family background has been cited by some observers as broadening his appeal beyond traditional Ashkenazi constituencies.

An alternative government formed by these parties would face constraints on major diplomatic initiatives, according to multiple analysts. It could, however, alter certain policies: restoring emphasis on judicial independence, adjusting funding formulas for ultra-Orthodox institutions and West Bank settlements, addressing crime rates in Arab communities, and reinstating coordination mechanisms with the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and Jordan. Bennett has ceased public discussion of annexing Area C of the West Bank.

Palestinian elections for the Legislative Council, originally discussed for November, and subsequent presidential elections remain scheduled in principle. Current Palestinian Authority leadership faces domestic criticism over corruption and effectiveness. The possible release of Marwan Barghouti from Israeli custody has been mentioned by some Palestinian figures as a factor that could influence those contests.

Any renewed diplomatic track would likely require coordinated international involvement. Past proposals, including the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative endorsed by the Arab League, have outlined recognition of Israel in exchange for withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967 and establishment of a Palestinian state. U.S. policy under either a second Trump administration or a future Democratic administration, along with European Union and Arab League positions, would shape the external environment.

The article’s author, Hillel Schenker, is a co-founder of the Peace Now movement and has long advocated a two-state outcome.