The leaders of the Labor Party and Meretz met and announced on Sunday the merger of the two parties under a new name— The Democrats.
After Meretz failed to pass the electoral threshold in the late 2022 elections, political figures marked a historic union with the Labor Party as a crucial step for the future of the Israeli left.
According to the agreement, Meretz will secure two spots in the top ten positions and two more in the next ten. Labor leader Yair Golan, who has championed this union as a primary goal since before the primaries, is also expected to receive two reserved spots in the top ten.
Political insiders state that "the achievement is in the union itself. Until now, Labor had resisted, but now the conditions are ripe." The parties' joint statement emphasized that "unlike in the past, this is not a 'technical bloc,' but a historic move creating, finally, one large and united party—a liberal, democratic, Zionist party that will serve as a political home for a significant portion of the Israeli public."
Golan, who was elected Labor leader with more than 95% of the votes, outlined last month the next steps needed to create what he calls a “governing alternative.” “The top priority now is to unite the camp, to bring in Meretz, to engage protest activists, to connect all the good citizens who understand that if we don’t fight for our home, we will lose it,” he said in an interview with ynet.