Naama Lazimi wins No. 2 spot after Yair Golan on Democrats’ electoral slate

By Ariela Karmel

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20 July 2026, 8:54 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Democrats MK Naama Lazimi at her campaign headquarters on the day of the party’s primary election in Tel Aviv, July 20, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)

The left-wing Democrats party unveils the results of its digital primary, with MK Naama Lazimi winning the top spot in the vote to determine the party’s Knesset slate. Party leader Yair Golan, who was elected in a separate leadership race in 2024, did not participate in today’s vote.

Lazimi is followed by fellow incumbent lawmakers Gilad Kariv and Efrat Rayten, activist Yaya Fink, former Meretz MK Gaby Lasky, anti-government activist and reservist Omri Ronen, former Meretz MK Michal Rozin, anti-government protest leader Moshe Radman, Muslim Arab coexistence advocate Somaya Bashir, and former Air Force general Nimrod Sheffer, who round out the top 10 primary winners.

Twenty candidates were elected from a field of 51 contenders. According to the party, 97,000 of its 112,376 registered members cast ballots, marking a record 86 percent turnout, in what it describes as the first fully online primary in Israeli politics, conducted using a secure digital voting system.

The party is projected to more than double its current four Knesset seats to around 10 in the upcoming October 27 election, according to consistent polling by Hebrew media, including The Times of Israel’s sister site, Zman Yisrael.

“This is democracy at its best — alive, vibrant, and ready for battle. And the team standing behind me here tonight will be the choice on the ballot of more than a million voters,” says Golan at the unveiling of the Knesset slate in Tel Aviv.

“Without strong and influential Democrats in the next government, the entire bloc for change will very quickly slide to the right,” he continues, adding that “this time, we cannot give in, and we have no intention of compromising on our core principles.”

Golan vows that the first act of any government his party joins will be to establish a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, followed by the repeal of “every law tied to the judicial overhaul.”