Chairperson of the left-wing Democrats Party, Yair Golan, called on Yashar! leader Gadi Eisenkot to join either his party or the newly formed Bennett-Lapid alliance, saying on Thursday that there “must be no fragmentation in the bloc” seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections.
Golan also called on the opposition bloc to consider the Arab Ra’am party as a coalition partner in a statement released on Tuesday.
Speaking at the Berl Katznelson Foundation conference on Thursday, Golan urged Eisenkot to join either the Democrats or the Together party, led by former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, who have been calling on Eisenkot to join them since announcing their alliance last week.
“I look at the political map. The alliance already underway between Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid will be judged by one question only: does it enlarge the bloc for change?” Golan said.
“Does it bring new voters home and create a genuine majority? If the answer is yes, we will welcome it.
“But if this alliance merely shifts mandates within our camp and drives away undecided right-wing voters who fear one political framework or another, then it will have achieved nothing for replacing the government and saving Israel,” Golan said.
He called on Eisenkot “not to further divide the bloc and to make a decision that will allow us to win.”
Eisenkot’s Yashar! has emerged as a leading party in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu in elections expected to take place no later than October.
The Yashar! leader has not accepted the offer to join Bennett and Lapid and has instead said the focus should be on gaining as many votes as possible within the bloc.
Bennett and Lapid have said that the “door is open” for Eisenkot to join and that he would receive the second spot on the party’s list, with Bennett leading the slate.
Golan calls for opposition to consider Ra'am viable partner
Golan also called on the opposition bloc to consider Ra’am as a viable coalition partner.
In a Tuesday statement, he called on opposition leaders “to openly declare today that [Ra’am party leader] Mansour Abbas is a legitimate partner in forming a government.”
“If we must rely on the votes of the Ra’am party to bring down the most negligent, corrupt, and dangerous government in Israel’s history, then Ra’am is a worthy partner,” he added.
The government led by Bennett and Lapid formed a coalition with Ra’am in 2022, marking the first time an Arab party became part of the country’s coalition.
Bennett, Lapid, and other opposition leaders have since pledged not to include Arab parties in a future coalition after the elections. It remains unclear how the opposition bloc would secure a majority without Arab party support.
Yisrael Beiteinu leader MK Avigdor Lieberman emphasized on Wednesday that he rejected any possibility of sitting in a government with Arab parties.
Lieberman added that Golan was “talking nonsense” and argued that considering such an option was anti-Zionist. The Democrats Party comprises the Labor and Meretz parties, which merged in 2024.
The party also announced several internal decisions on Tuesday ahead of the elections.
The Democrats said its primaries would be held according to the date of the elections and the conclusion of the Knesset’s summer session.
It also pledged guaranteed representation at the start of the second group of 10 spots on its list for representatives of the rural sector, as well as Arab and Druze communities.
The Democrats also said they remain committed to gender equality on the Knesset slate through alternating placement of women and men on the list.
Under the party’s rules, members will be able to select between five and seven candidates for the Knesset list, as in previous election cycles.