Anti-government protest leaders, brother of murdered hostage join Democrats party

The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan announced Tuesday that several leaders of the anti-government protest movement of the past few years were joining the left-wing party, calling on all protest leaders and their supporters to follow suit.

Golan was joined by anti-government protesters and tech entrepreneurs Moshe Radman and Ami Dror, key figures in the widespread movement that saw enormous success bringing hundreds of thousands of Israelis into the streets to demonstrate against the government’s contentious judicial overhaul starting in 2023.

“Tonight, the most natural and necessary transition in the past three years is happening,” Golan said, adding that the protest movement is “a part of us, a part of our backbone.”

“The Democrats is the home for everyone who took to the streets, for anyone concerned about the fate of the country,” he said, speaking at a press conference at the party’s headquarters, hailing the protest movement that also became a key part of the campaign for a hostage deal following the October 7, 2023, attack.

“Today, we are opening the doors of the party to new members. We have open primaries for everyone, with many excellent candidates,” Golan said, indicating the new additions would compete for spots on the party’s Knesset slate ahead of elections currently scheduled for October.

The party, an amalgamation of the Labor and Meretz parties, has yet to announce a date for the primary.

“I call on protest leaders and other civil society leaders: come. We need a strong Democrats in the next government for the future of the State of Israel,” he added.

Radman said that while the protests remain “a badge of honor for Israeli civil society,” the struggle for the country continues, and the current political reality requires “a bold ideological alternative to the forever wars and the corrupt rule of the messianic right.”

The left-wing party is “the right home to build this alternative,” Radman said, adding that he sees no need to build separate new parties. He plans to enlist friends and colleagues to help make the Democrats “as large and significant as possible in the next government.”

“I call on everyone who has marched with us in the streets over the past three years with a flag to fight for Israeli democracy. We are in a decisive period: a choice between good and evil, between a liberal, equal, thriving democracy and a messianic theocracy, between the collapse of the Zionist project and an upgraded version,” he said.

They join fellow protest leader Moran Michel, who announced in August that she would join the party.

Noticeably absent was anti-government activist Shikma Bressler, who was among the most prominent leaders of the mass protests.

In a post on X, the leader congratulated Radman and wrote that she was “really, really happy that he chose to join the political system.”

She said that she wished that more “dedicated, smart, hardworking and determined people from civil society and the protests would take a similar step” and that more “parties would open their gates” to them.

Among the new additions was Danny Elgarat, the brother of murdered Hamas hostage Itzik Elgarat, and a prominent advocate on behalf of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

“The protest has not ended. The circle has not been closed. The truth has not been laid on the table, accountability has not been established, and justice has not been achieved,” he said at the press conference, adding that as a result, “the protest is now moving to democratic political action.”

Elgarat said that during his time protesting for the return of his brother and the other hostages, the Democrats was the sole party within the opposition that supported the protest movement led by the relatives of hostages “on the ground, in the Knesset, in Israel and abroad, alongside me and most of the hostages’ families, not just with words but with action.”

He said that he was joining the Democrats to continue “raising the flag” of democracy, equality, responsibility, and a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks, which the government has refused to establish, as well as an investigation into the ongoing Qatargate scandal, in which aides of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are accused of having acted as paid lobbyists for the Gulf state for over a year since the attacks while in the prime minister’s employ.

“I call on all members of the protests and all citizens who value democracy: Rise, take action, join the Democrats to replace the government and return responsibility, truth, and hope to the State of Israel,” said Elgarat.

Other new additions to the party include activist Lee Hoffman, Tel Aviv City Council member Hadas Ragolsky, and Bat Yam Deputy Mayor Kati Piasecki.