Yair Golan launches campaign to lead Labor, Left

Former IDF deputy Chief of Staff, Meretz MK, and deputy economy minister Yair Golan launched his campaign on Thursday to head the Labor party, which would eventually incorporate Labor, Meretz, and other elements of the Israeli Left.

“After the most difficult year in the country’s history, it is clear today, more than ever, that we cannot stand aside. I call on all those who see themselves as part of the liberal-democratic camp to register today to the Labor Party.

Together, we will work towards a large unification that will serve as a political home for the entire camp. The liberal-democratic camp is unifying,” Golan said. “Over the last year, we went out to the streets en-masse. We stopped our lives to fight for the country. We fought for democracy day and night,” Golan said, referring to widespread protests during 2023 against a government plan to reform Israel’s judicial system, legislation that led to a severe societal split.

“It is time that this large and determined public becomes a political home, one that will serve as an ideological base for all its people, and will enable all of us to vote and be elected,” Golan said.

Golan seeks to unite left-wing parties 

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post on February 27, Golan explained that while he preferred that the different groups on the Left merge sooner rather than later, the fact that Labor decided to hold an independent primary election meant he had to act up so as to eventually create a larger camp.

In 2022, Golan ran for leadership of Meretz, eventually losing to Zehava Galon. Before the November 2022 election, Labor head MK Merav Michaeli refused to run on a joint ticket with Meretz, which then fell short of the electoral threshold and did not enter the Knesset.

The primary election for leadership of Labor will be held on May 28. Other than Golan, the only other person to announce her candidacy is current Labor MK Efrat Rayten. However, party members have until May 5 to announce their candidacy, and others are expected to join the race until then.

Golan’s was endorsed soon after by the Kibbutz Movement, whose secretary-general, Lior Simcha, and Kibbutz Economic Organizations Union CEO Yaakov Becher, both said they would act to form a new “social-defense” party led by Golan, that will unify Labor, Meretz, protests movements, and civil organizations.

“We must rise from the disaster [of October 7] to a better country whose priorities serve all of Israel. We deserve a government that cares for security and agriculture, settlement, periphery, and healing the schisms in the people,” Simcha and Becher said.

“The new social defense party that will form will be exactly this: responsible, Zionist, egalitarian, value-oriented, and act in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence,” the two added.