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The Democrats

Election campaign posters for the Likud (C, R) and Otzma Yehudit (L) parties are displayed in the northern Israeli city of Safed, ahead of the upcoming election, October 21, 2026. (David Cohen/Flash90)
Analysis
Ruth Eglash
The missing ‘peace’ in Israel’s election campaign
Political debate has moved away from resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict even as violent events in the West Bank are making the issue harder to ignore
Visitors gather on a hill overlooking the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel, October 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
2026 Knesset Election
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Despite the horrors of Oct. 7, the political loyalties of many Gaza border residents have not changed
By Stav Levaton
The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan speaks during an election conference at Tel Aviv University, ahead of Israel’s upcoming general elections, October 18, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
October 19, 2026, 10:02 pm
‘Wanted dead or alive’: Golan campaign billboard vandalized, amid fears of political violence
Democrats chair says billboard can be vandalized, ‘hope cannot’; Eisenkot’s Yashar lashes out at Likud in spat over ‘monkey’ slur, warns against PM electioneering at soccer match
By Stav Levaton, Nava Freiberg and ToI Staff
Yisrael Beiteinu party chairman Avigdor Lieberman speaks during a conference organized by the Israel Democracy Institute in Tel Aviv, October 15, 2026. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
October 16, 2026, 7:00 pm
Liberman is risking another election to secure his right-wing political future
The Yisrael Beytenu chairman has ruled out a minority coalition dependent on Arab parties. He is banking on Likud defectors, but is actually erecting a roadblock for the center-left
By Shalom Yerushalmi
Yousef Jabareen, chairman of the Joint List, attends the party’s Hebrew-language campaign launch event ahead of the upcoming Knesset elections, in Tel Aviv, October 5, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
October 11, 2026, 1:07 am
Joint Arab List says it’s willing to provide safety net for any anti-Netanyahu coalition
But party to condition support on pathway to Palestinian state; Winter, Netanyahu trade barbs after ex-general says ‘I don’t work for anyone’; Gantz vows to stay in race despite poor polling
By ToI Staff and Zev Stub
Yair Golan, chairman of The Democrats party, attends the Shabtai Shavit World Summit on Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University in Herzliya, October 6, 2026. (Tal Gal/Flash90)
October 10, 2026, 2:13 pm
Golan says Khamenei’s assassination was an error: ‘We’re left with more extreme leaders’
Democrats leader says Israel ‘was at the peak of its achievements against the Iranians’ after 2025 war; blames Netanyahu, saying he ‘sold illusions to the US about toppling the regime’
By ToI Staff
Yair Golan, chairman of the Democrats party, attends an election campaign event in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, September 28, 2026. (Sharon Leibel/Flash90)
September 29, 2026, 1:31 pm
Citing death threats, Democrats petition High Court for Shin Bet to guard Golan
Left-wing party claims the refusal so far to provide protection for party chair Yair Golan makes his campaigning opportunities unequal, and potentially deadly
By Ariela Karmel and ToI Staff
The change bloc leaders: Avigdor Liberman, Yair Golan, Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Lapid, Naftali Bennett (Official campaign photos, combo created by The Times of Israel)
September 28, 2026, 5:09 pm
By refusing to name a leader, the anti-Netanyahu ‘change bloc’ is making a fatal mistake
An intended reconciliation meeting exposed a critical flaw. In declining to rally behind Gadi Eisenkot, the opposition is inviting relentless, deeply damaging internal rivalry
By Shalom Yerushalmi
Democrats party chairman Yair Golan arrives for a meeting with opposition leaders in Tel Aviv, September 26, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
September 27, 2026, 8:51 pm
Day after meeting opposition chiefs, Golan says Arab parties could be in next government
Democrats party clarifies that his comments made during radio interview refer to party platform, not bloc consensus, says topic did not come up during meeting; Likud slams remarks
By Stav Levaton and ToI Staff
Left to right: The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan in Tel Aviv, July 28, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90); National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the Otzma Yehudit party chairman, in Jerusalem, September 7, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90); Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the Religious Zionism party chairman in the West Bank, September 2, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
September 24, 2026, 5:03 pm
Election panel rejects bids to bar Democrats, Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism parties
All the Jewish-majority slates that faced challenges before committee are cleared to run, after all Arab parties were disqualified on Wednesday; Supreme Court to consider petitions next week
By Ariela Karmel
A smashed window at Jerusalem's Kol HaNeshama, a Reform synagogue in Jerusalem that was vandalized on August 14, 2026. (Kol HaNeshama via X)
September 23, 2026, 4:20 pm
Three minors arrested after repeated vandalization of Jerusalem Reform synagogue
Suspects detained following smashing of plate and ripping down of LGBTQ flag at Kol HaNeshama on Yom Kippur, as well as egg-throwing incident on Rosh Hashanah
By Noam Lehmann, ToI Staff and JTA
Left to right: Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid, Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Golan and Avigdor Liberman. (Composite photo; credits: Flash90)
September 10, 2026, 8:55 pm
Main opposition factions ink surplus-vote deals in bid to maximize Knesset representation
PM claims agreements show his rivals ‘will form left-wing government’; Joint List No. 2 says alliance of Arab parties to sign deal with Ra’am, but neither makes formal announcement
By Ariela Karmel
Left: Sara Netanyahu in a Channel 14 interview broadcast on August 31, 2026. Right: Yair Golan, October 14, 2023. (Screenshot/Channel 14; Kan TV screenshot)
September 10, 2026, 4:10 pm
Yair Golan files $843,000 suit against Sara Netanyahu over Oct. 7 conspiracy theory
Democrats party chair says lawsuit isn’t just about his reputation, but about ‘a government that has lost all restraint’ after PM’s wife insinuated he knew of Hamas attack in advance
By Ariela Karmel
Yair Golan, leader of The Democrats party and a former IDF deputy chief of staff, speaks during an election campaign rally in Netanya, Israel, August 27, 2026. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)
September 1, 2026, 7:36 pm
Yair Golan warns Sara Netanyahu of $825,000 suit for airing Oct. 7 conspiracy theory
Democrats leader, who rescued multiple people from Nova festival, tells PM’s wife to donate to rave’s survivors and retract suggestion he had advance knowledge of Hamas onslaught
By ToI Staff and Michael Bachner
Yair Golan, chairman of The Democrats party, speaks during a party rally at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, July 25, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
August 26, 2026, 11:27 pm
Democrats chair Yair Golan said to request security detail due to threats on his life
Request reportedly cites posts saying Golan should be hanged, shot, maimed; Eisenkot trades barbs with hawkish newcomer Winter as PM’s glumness on Likud’s chances is backed up by poll
By Sam Sokol
Democrats Party Chairman Yair Golan (left) gives a statement to the media outside the Channel 12 News studios in Tel Aviv, July 28, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90); Yisrael Beiteinu party chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on July 13, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 4, 2026, 7:02 pm
Liberman tells Golan to ‘shut up,’ says rhetoric aiding Netanyahu election campaign
In opposition in-fighting, Golan says Liberman should ‘stop echoing’ right-wing messaging, as Likud continues to weaponize The Democrats leader’s past comments ahead of elections
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
Yair Golan, chairman of The Democrats party, speaks during a party rally at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, July 25, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
July 26, 2026, 12:20 am
Launching election campaign, Democrats’ Golan says blood spilled in West Bank is on PM’s hands
At event ahead of weekly anti-government protests, left-wing party says it eyes education and justice ministries, vows to keep criminal defendants out of office, nix judicial overhaul laws
By Noam Lehmann
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