Democratic Union (Israel)

The Democratic Union (Hebrew: המחנה הדמוקרטי‎, romanized: HaMaḥaneh HaDemokrati, lit. 'The Democratic Camp') was a left-wing political alliance in Israel formed between Meretz, Israel Democratic Party, Labor defector Stav Shaffir,[3] and the Green Movement[4] that ran in the September 2019 Israeli legislative election.[5] On 19 December 2019, Labor defector Stav Shaffir and her party, the Green Movement, announced a press conference in which she would leave the alliance to run independently in the 2020 Israeli legislative election.[6] The Democratic Union initially announced on 7 January 2020 that it will run in the 2020 election, this time including Meretz and Democratic Choice.[7]

Democratic Union המחנה הדמוקרטי‎
Leader	Nitzan Horowitz Yair Golan Ehud Barak[1]
Founded	25 July 2019 (2019-07-25)
Ideology	Zionism Progressivism Social democracy Secularism Green politics Two-state solution[2]
Political position	Left-wing[1]
Member parties	Meretz Democratic Choice Israel Democratic
Colours
Slogan	No (to) Likud. That's for sure.
Most MKs	5 (2019)
Election symbol
מרצ‎
Website
www.dem.co.il
Politics of Israel Political parties Elections

On 13 January 2020, it was announced that a new Labor-Gesher-Meretz slate had been formed for the 2020 election,[8] excluding Shaffir, but including Yair Golan in a reserved Meretz slot.[9]

History

A meeting was held between Ehud Barak and Issawi Frej (with Stav Shaffir "mediating") on 24 July to make various agreements between their respective factions, with Barak allowing Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz first place on the list, as well as Barak being placed in tenth place on the list, but with "first pick of portfolios" if the alliance goes into government.[10] The Meretz party voted on 28 July to approve the agreement regarding the Democratic Union.[11]

The agreement binds the parties to not join a coalition with a right-wing government,[11] declaring: "We will not lend our hand to a right-wing government headed by Netanyahu, and not a right-wing government headed by the puppets of Netanyahu in any situation, in any scenario, in any way."[12] The parties also pledge to "defend the democratic character of the state, with an emphasis on the Supreme Court, to abolish the Nation-state Law, and to promote peace and a political settlement with the Palestinian Arabs".[11]

Composition

Former members

Name		Ideology	Position	Leader	Current MKs
	Meretz	Social democracy	Left-wing	Nitzan Horowitz	3 / 120
	Democratic Choice	Social democracy	Centre-left	Yair Golan	1 / 120
	Israel Democratic	Social liberalism	Centre-left	Ehud Barak	0 / 120
	Green Party	Green politics	Centre-left to left-wing	Stav Shaffir	1 / 120

Former MKs

The Democratic Union had five members in the 22nd Knesset.[13]

     Meretz,      Israel Democratic ,      Green Movement

#		Name	Notes
	1	Nitzan Horowitz	Democratic Union leader, Meretz chairman, journalist
	2	Stav Shaffir	Former Labor MK, a leader from the 2011 Israeli social justice protests
	3	Yair Golan	Former Deputy Chief of Staff
	4	Tamar Zandberg	Former Meretz Chairwoman
	5	Ilan Gilon	Meretz MK, former Deputy mayor of Ashdod

Election results

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Position	Seats	+/–	Outcome
September 2019	Nitzan Horowitz	192,495	4.34%	9th	5 / 120	n/a	Snap election

References

1. Gil Hoffman (25 July 2019). "Barak, Shaffir, Horowitz form left-wing bloc overnight". The Jerusalem Post.
2. Staff (29 July 2019). "Meretz central committee approves merger with Barak's Israel Democratic Party". The Times of Israel.
3. Elad Benari (25 July 2019). "Meretz and Israel Democratic unite". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
4. Gil Hoffman; Jeremy Sharon (25 July 2019). "Polls show Democratic Union Party to net 8-12 seats". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
5. Raoul Wootliff; Staff writer (25 July 2019). "Meretz, former PM Barak, Labor defector Shaffir announce joint Knesset run". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
6. Staff writer (19 December 2019). "Left-wing MK Shaffir says planning to run independently in elections". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
7. Jacob Magid (7 January 2020). "2 of 3 left-wing slates that make up Democratic Camp ink deal to stick together". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
8. Gil Hoffman (13 January 2020). "Amir Peretz and Nitzan Horowitz reach deal on Labor-Meretz joint ticket". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
9. Elad Benari (15 January 2020). "Meretz approves agreement with Labor". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
10. Gil Hoffman (26 July 2019). "Barak failing to woo Laborites puts Meretz deal in jeopardy". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
11. Elad Benari (29 July 2019). "Meretz approves alliance with Barak's party". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
12. Jeremy Sharon (31 July 2019). "Democratic Union vows not to join Netanyahu gov't". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
13. Raoul Wootliff (19 September 2019). "21st Knesset, we hardly knew ye. Meet the (almost identical) 22nd". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 16 March 2020.