One interesting development on the left is the new joint Jewish-Arab “Place for All of Us” Party, founded by leaders of Standing Together.
Protesters in Tel Aviv call for an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza and the West Bank on Saturday, July 25. (Jamal Awad / Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
Although we know that the Israeli public has moved to the right, particularly the younger generation, as the Israeli elections scheduled for October 27 draw near, something is happening on the Israeli left.
On Monday, July 20, the new Democrats Party held its primary to select its candidates for the upcoming elections. The party is a merger between the left-Zionist parties Labor and Meretz and activists from the mass pro-democracy movement, against the attempt to undermine the independence of the courts and freedom of expression that brought some 150,000 people into the streets every week before the war began on October 7.
The enthusiasm generated by the new party motivated over 114,000 people to register as members, making it the second-largest membership party after Netanyahu’s Likud—which has 140,000 members. The party is led by former IDF deputy chief of staff Yair Golan, who lost his chance to become chief of staff when he stated on Holocaust Memorial Day in 2016 that “if there is one thing that frightens me in remembering the Holocaust, it is identifying horrifying processes that took place in Europe…particularly in Germany…and finding signs of them here among us in 2016.” The 64-year-old Golan, who started out in politics in Meretz, became a hero on October 7 when he got into a car, went south, and rescued a number of young Israeli civilians who were hiding in the woods from the murderous attack by Hamas.
The excitement generated by the primary was partly due to the new digital system that created a sense of genuine ownership of the process. All members were sent a link via WhatsApp and e-mail that when opened contained the names and photos of 51 candidates for the Knesset list. The list was composed of veteran Knesset members and activists from both Labor and Meretz, as well as many key activists from the protest movement and veterans of the security establishment who believe that diplomacy and a quest for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be a central aim of the next government. Ninety-seven thousand members actually voted, 87 percent of the total membership. Also noteworthy is the equal number of male and female candidates.
The only other parties that hold a primary are the Likud and Smotrich’s smaller religious Zionist party, though Netanyahu is trying to control the process and is considering even canceling the primary. All the other parties have their candidates chosen by their leaders or institutions.
In the polls, the Democrats consistently receive an average of 10 or 11 seats among the 120 Knesset members. That would probably lead to the party’s having three ministers in an alternative government, as well as heading important Knesset committees.
A second important segment of the Israeli left is the four predominantly Arab parties, the leftist coalition Hadash (formed by the Communists and others), the secular Arab nationalist Ta’al, the United Arab List moderate Islamic Ra’am, and the secular nationalist Balad. Ra’am was the first Arab party to be a full partner in an Israeli government, the “Government of Change” led by Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid in 2021. All four parties are dedicated to defeating Netanyahu’s government, and to removing the fascist follower of Rabbi Meir Kahane Itamar Ben-Gvir from his post as minister of internal security. An average of only 45 to 50 percent of the Arabs vote in national elections, compared to 70 percent in the Jewish sector. When they ran together as a Joint List in the 2020 elections they got 15 seats. Running separately, polls show them winning 10 or 11 seats.
Getting out the Arab vote will be key to defeating Netanyahu.
One of the problems the left faces is that the continuing trauma created by October 7 feeds opposition within Jewish Israeli society to partner with an Arab party in the government. Yair Golan’s Democrats are the only opposition party calling for Jewish-Arab partnership in government. Yet there may be no alternative to such a partnership if a new “Government of Change” is to be formed.
Another interesting development on the left is the new joint Jewish-Arab “A Place for All of Us” party, founded by leaders of “Standing Together.” Founded in 2015 as a joint Jewish-Palestinian-Israeli grassroots movement for peace, equality, social justice, and an end to the occupation, after October 7 it was the only Israeli movement to take to the streets and immediately call for a ceasefire, the return of all the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, and an end to the occupation and to stress the need for peace. The party is led by one of the co-leaders of “Standing Together,” Palestinian-Israeli Rula Daoud, the only party led by a woman. The Israeli system requires a party to get at least 3.5 percent of the vote to pass the electoral threshold. In the last elections, that meant 154,820 votes, which equals four Knesset members. While the foundation of the party has inspired many people on the Israeli left who believe in the importance of Jewish-Arab solidarity, cooperation, and partnership, the party is unlikely to get that number, and Jewish co-leader Alon Lee-Green has said that in such a case the party will drop out and not waste votes. Party leaders say that they have aroused a tremendous amount of enthusiasm among women and young people in the Arab sector, who don’t feel they are adequately represented by the four traditional Arab parties. One possibility might be that they could form an alliance with a new Joint List or with Hadash, adding Rula Daoud since none of the Arab parties have a female candidate.
Another very interesting and important development is the fact that former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, with his new Yashar (Direct or Honest) party, has overtaken former prime minister Naftali Bennett as the potential leader of an alternative government. Bennett defines himself as a liberal man of the right who is opposed to a Palestinian state (though his partner in the Beyachad [Together] Party Lapid supports it). Although some people claim that Eisenkot is on the right, he is also viewed by some as a pragmatic centrist, while the Likud smears him as “a leftist.” One clear point of contention between him and Netanyahu was the 2016 Elor Azaria affair, when a young IDF soldier shot and killed a wounded Palestinian who had stabbed an Israeli soldier. Netanyahu said he was a hero, while then–chief of staff Eisenkot said he should be punished (he was). Unlike Netanyahu, who has constantly called Iran an existential threat to Israel, who encouraged Trump to leave the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal and then encouraged him to attack Iran in “Operation Epic Fury,” he maintained that the JCPOA was working, and added in 2018, “In my view, the Iranians have not carried out an attack initiative in the past 1,400 years.” Eisenkot, who lost a son and two nephews in Gaza, is avoiding saying anything clearly about his views on a Palestinian state or partnership with Arab parties and is trying to appeal to voters from the right. Yet at least two Israeli peace activists, Gavri Bar-Gil, a former executive director of the Peace Now movement, and Uri Zakai, a former chair of the Meretz executive board, are campaigning for him. And while Netanyahu, born into the Jerusalem Ashkenazi elite, has always claimed to represent the disadvantaged Sephardi/Mizrachi Jews from the Middle East and North Africa, Eisenkot, despite his Askhenazi-sounding name, is actually of Moroccan background, and is considered a “soul brother” who appeals to Netanyahu’s base. He would become the first non-Ashkenazi prime minister.
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An alternative “Government of Change” will not be capable of carrying out a serious diplomatic process with the Palestinians. However, it would be able to stop Netanyahu’s “forever wars” policy and put diplomacy back on the table. It would focus on defending the independence of the courts and freedom of the press and education, end the exaggerated subsidizing of the ultra-Orthodox and settlers, combat crime in the Arab sector that Ben-Gvir has allowed to run wild, penalize the “hilltop youth” who are carrying out pogroms in the West Bank, protect the gatekeepers and remove the fascists Ben-Gvir and Smotrich (with his 2017 “Decisive Plan” to drive out the Palestinians and annex the West Bank) from power, end dreams of resettling Gaza, and reestablish constructive relations with the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and Jordan. Even Bennett has stopped talking about annexing Area C, 60 percent of the West Bank.
Israeli elections are not the only ones that will influence the prospects for the future. The Palestinians are scheduled to carry out elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council promised for November, to be followed by elections for president, to create a leadership that has the confidence of the Palestinian people. The current leadership is considered corrupt and ineffective. The release from Israeli prison of Marwan Barghouti, who is considered a potential Palestinian Mandela, would help. Palestinian elections will be an important component for any possible progress in Israeli-Palestinian relations.
What will then be needed is serious international engagement with Israel and the Palestinians, pressure either by Trump, who still wants that Nobel Peace Prize, or a more activist Democratic president after 2028, together with support from the European Union and the League of Arab States.
Israeli peace activists like myself have welcomed the change in direction within the Democratic Party. We don’t need an “Israel right or wrong” approach. We also welcome the fact that AIPAC is now considered toxic for Democratic candidates. One of the party’s potential presidential candidates, Representative Ro Khanna, recently came for a visit to the West Bank, witnessed and spoke out against the injustices carried out against the Palestinians. And Rahm Emanuel, another potential candidate, warned Israelis in a lecture at Tel Aviv University that their current policies are turning the country into a pariah state. We know that. He proposed that a future Democratic administration should actively promote a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, issued by all 22 Arab states, including the PLO representing the Palestinians. The API declared the readiness of all Arab states to recognize the State of Israel and have normal relations with it depending on an end to the occupation, the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital, and an agreed-upon solution for the refugee problem with the Israeli government. Later, the idea of mutually agreed-upon minimal land swaps was added, which would enable 80 percent of the settlers to be within the State of Israel, neutralizing the problem. He called it the “23 State Solution,” the 22 Arab states, including a demilitarized Palestinian state (an idea accepted by the PLO leadership), alongside the State of Israel, a concept originated by J Street. The API was never discussed by an Israeli government and is still on the table.
While support for a two-state solution has declined in both Israeli and Palestinian society, polls carried out by the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD) at the Hebrew University indicate that a majority of both Israelis and Palestinians would support a regional peace and security agreement between Israel and all its Arab neighbors that would include a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel. That’s what the Arab Peace Initiative proposes.
All of the above creates a sense of cautious hope on the Israeli left.
Hillel SchenkerHillel Schenker is Israeli co-editor of Palestine-Israel Journal and a member of the coordinating committee of the Iranian-Israeli Peace Forum.