Hostage activist Zangauker says Golan broke pledge to put her on Democrats slate

Mother of hostage Matan says Golan broke months of promises; he apologizes for disappointing her, says she’ll have ‘meaningful role’ in campaign

Einav Zangauker, mother of former Hamas captive Matan Zangauker and one of the most outspoken critics of the government’s handling of the hostage crisis, accused Yair Golan, chair of the left-wing Democrats, of breaking his repeated promises to reserve a senior spot for her on the party’s slate.

Zangauker was one of the faces of the years-long movement to free the hostages taken in the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023, frequently speaking at rallies and sparring with lawmakers at Knesset committee meetings on the issue. Her son was released in October 2025 as one of the last 20 surviving hostages after more than two years in captivity.

She said in a social media post on Monday that, counting on Golan’s promises, she decided to forgo a run in the party primaries and did not explore other opportunities. But then, following the primary vote, Golan opted last week not to exercise his right to reserve spots for his preferred candidates, leaving Zangauker off the list.

Golan, in response, acknowledged that she would not be on the party’s list of candidates and apologized for disappointing her, but did not comment on her accusation of a broken promise.

In her post, Zangauker wrote that in February, Golan asked her to meet and promised to give her a spot on the party slate, ranking her immediately after the party’s sitting lawmakers, and she accepted the offer. She wrote that Golan said he would announce her candidacy after the party’s July 20 primary, and that party officials repeated the promise over the subsequent months.

“From that moment, I was asked to keep this secret, and Golan’s people made sure to keep in touch, and, throughout this period, the pledge was reaffirmed several times with Golan himself,” Zangauker wrote. “Each time, I was reassured that they would keep their word, that our deal was valid, and that after candidates were chosen in the primaries, my reserved spot in the slate’s top echelon would be announced.”

Democrats party chairman Yair Golan gives a statement to the media outside the Channel 12 news studio in Tel Aviv, after the building’s entrance doors were smashed by an assailant overnight, July 28, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

She added that, upon the party’s request, she kept a low profile ahead of the primaries. She chose not to run herself, she said, thinking that her spot on the slate was guaranteed.

“I was asked by them, as part of the deal, to lower my media profile until the announcement,” she wrote. “Of course, I upheld my commitment and kept our arrangement secret, lowered my profile, and didn’t consider other options, such as participating in the primaries. I upheld my side of the deal.”

“Unfortunately, and as published, Golan decided otherwise,” she wrote. “That’s the whole story. It’s over and is already in the past.”

Less than an hour later, Golan wrote in a social media post that he did, in fact, decide not to reserve any spots for candidates. He praised Zangauker and apologized to her, but did not confirm her accusation that he had reneged on an agreement.

“Einav, you are dear to my heart,” he wrote. “I appreciate and value you very much — the courage, determination, and strength with which you led a life-saving struggle. I know my decision disappointed you, and I am sorry for that from the depths of my heart. It was my decision, and I bear full responsibility for it and the pain it caused you.”

MKs Naama Lazimi (red jacket) and Gilad Kariv (to her right) celebrate with other Democrats party politicians after winning the No. 2 and No. 3 slots respectively on the party’s Knesset slate, following party leader Yair Golan (to Kariv’s right). The candidates gathered in Tel Aviv on July 20, 2026, after the party’s primaries. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Golan added that he decided not to use his right to reserve a candidate of his choosing, “out of respect for the decision of the 113,000 members of The Democrats and out of trust in the excellent list they chose.”

He did not address her claim that she forwent a primary run based on his promise. Following the primary vote, the party said that some 97,000 members cast ballots.

Golan’s post drew criticism from Raviv Drucker, a political correspondent for Channel 13, who called Golan’s post “a kind of rhetorical trick, as if you considered reserving a spot and then decided not to, and you’re sorry to disappoint. It’s just not true. You promised to reserve a spot, and you broke your promise.”

Golan claimed he has offered her, and is still offering, a “significant role” in the party, both during the campaign and afterward. He did not elaborate on what that role would be.

Zangauker, for her part, wrote that while she will not be in the next Knesset, she will continue her public work to “fix all that is broken here,” and urged the public to “ensure that the failed government doesn’t succeed in its plot to make us forget the [October 7] massacre, the abandonment and the complete failure that occurred on its watch on all fronts.”