The Democrats (Israel)
The Democrats is a social democratic and Zionist political party in Israel, formed by the merger of the centre-left Israeli Labor Party and the left-wing Meretz party in July 2024. It is led by Yair Golan, who led the Labor Party prior to the merger and served as an MK for the Democratic Union before joining Meretz. The Democrats describes itself as "the political home of the liberal-democratic camp in Israel", and as a part of what Golan calls the "Zionist left".
History
Background
In the 2022 Israeli legislative election, the left-wing Meretz party won 3.16% of the vote failing, for the first time, to pass the electoral threshold required to qualify for seats in the Knesset, while the Labor Party just managed to pass, with 3.69% of the vote, winning only four seats, its worst ever performance in terms of popular vote. Labor leader Merav Michaeli was criticized for having refused to enter into an electoral pact with Meretz as the party's loss contributed to Benjamin Netanyahu's victory in the election.Negotiations began between Labor and Meretz following the 2022 election, with Meretz party secretary general Tomer Reznik and former Meretz MK Michal Rozin heading negotiations on behalf of their party and Labor MKs Gilad Kariv and Naama Lazimi in charge of the negotiations for Labor, with Yair Golan joining the negotiations later.
Polling conducted throughout 2023 and in 2024, in the months prior to Labor's leadership election, suggested that in the 2026 Israeli legislative election Labor may fail to pass the threshold and be shut out of the Knesset, while Meretz was projected to narrowly pass the threshold and win four seats. Polls taken in June prior to the merger agreement projected that if the parties were to run together, they would win more than ten seats.
Golan launched his leadership campaign for Labor in early March 2024 on a platform of uniting Labor, Meretz, and other organizations. He announced the formation of "The Democrats" on 18 March 2024, citing a need for a "democratic, free, broad-based, party", as an alternative to the Netanyahu government, and called for an early Knesset election. Golan was elected Labor leader in a "landslide victory" on 28 May 2024.
Merger
On 30 June, the two parties jointly announced that they had agreed to a merger. Under the merger agreement, there will be one Meretz representative in every four spots on the new party's electoral list, as well as on the party bodies, and there will also be representation for Meretz's municipal factions. Golan has said that the party aims to be a "broad home for the liberal-democratic public in Israel". Golan will receive two seats in the top ten slots. The representation agreement will be in effect only for the next election; the party's electoral slate and members of representative bodies will be chosen by party primaries. The agreement designated Labor Party leader Yair Golan as leader and chairman of the new party.A convention of delegates from Labor and Meretz and of the 2023 Israeli judicial reform protests approved the merger on 12 July 2024 in Tel Aviv. Under the agreement, Meretz and Labor continue as separate corporate and budgetary entities, and their factions in the Histadrut, municipal councils, and other bodies outside the Knesset will not merge at this stage, but will cooperate. Despite the merger, members of The Democrats continue to be identified in the 25th Knesset as members of the Israeli Labor Party because Ofir Katz, the chairman of the Knesset House Committee, and other members of the government coalition sitting on the committee, refused to agree to formally rename the Knesset faction in February 2025.