The Democratic Union (, ) was a liberal-

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

political alliance A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

formed between

Meretz Meretz (, ; ) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It had no seats in the Knesset following its failure ...

Israel Democratic Party The Israel Democratic Party (, ) was a political party in Israel established in 2019 by former prime minister Ehud Barak. The party merged with Meretz for the September 2019 election. It did not contest the 2020 snap election. Members Yair Gol ...

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

defector

Stav Shaffir Stav Shaffir (; born 17 May 1985) is an Israeli politician and former member of Knesset. She is the leader of the Green Party and was a member of the Knesset for the Democratic Union alliance. She came to national prominence as one of the leade ...

, and the

Green Movement Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It ...

that ran in the

September 2019 Israeli legislative election Legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 September 2019 to elect the 120 members of the 22nd Knesset. Following the previous elections in April, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition. On 30 May ...

. On 19 December 2019,

defector

and her party, the

, announced a press conference in which she would leave the alliance to run independently in the

2020 Israeli legislative election Legislative elections were held in Israel on 2 March 2020 to elect members of the twenty-third Knesset. The result was initially a stalemate, which was resolved when Likud and Blue & White reached a coalition agreement. Under the terms of the ...

. The Democratic Union initially announced on 7 January 2020 that it would run in the 2020 election, this time including

and Democratic Choice. On 13 January 2020, it was announced that a new

Labor-Gesher-Meretz Labor-Gesher-Meretz () or Emet (; ), known as Labor-Meretz () from March to April 2020, was an Israeli centre-left electoral list composed of three parties – the Israeli Labor Party, Gesher and Meretz. The list ran in the 2020 legislative el ...

slate had been formed for the 2020 election, excluding Shaffir, but including

Yair Golan Yair Golan (; born 14 May 1962) is an Israeli politician, the leader of the Democrats party, and reserve major general in the Israel Defense Forces. He served as the Deputy Minister of Economy in the thirty-sixth Israeli government, and ser ...

in a reserved Meretz slot.

History

A meeting was held between

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...

and

Issawi Frej Issawi Frej (, ; born 14 December 1963) is an Arab-Israeli politician who served as a minister and was a member of the Knesset for Meretz in 2021 and was also an MK for the party between 2013 and 2019. As of June 2023, he was the Minister of Re ...

(with

"mediating") on 24 July to make various agreements between their respective factions, with Barak allowing Meretz leader

Nitzan Horowitz Nitzan Horowitz (; born 24 February 1965) is a politician and former journalist who served as Israel's Minister of Health from 2021 to 2022. He is the former leader of Meretz. He previously was the chief U.S. correspondent and commentator for t ...

first place on the list, as well as Barak being placed in tenth place on the list, but with "first pick of portfolios" if the alliance were to go into government. The Meretz party voted on 28 July to approve the agreement regarding the Democratic Union. The agreement bound the parties not to join a coalition with a right-wing government, declaring: "We will not lend our hand to a right-wing government headed by

Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

, and not a right-wing government headed by the puppets of Netanyahu in any situation, in any scenario, in any way." The parties also pledged to "defend the democratic character of the state, with an emphasis on the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, to abolish the Nation-state Law, and to promote peace and a political settlement with the Palestinian Arabs".

Composition

Former members

Former MKs

The Democratic Union had five members in the 22nd Knesset.

, Israel Democratic,

Election results

References

2019 establishments in Israel 2020 disestablishments in Israel Political parties disestablished in 2020 Political parties established in 2019 Defunct political party alliances in Israel Social democratic parties in Israel Zionist political parties in Israel Meretz {{Israel-party-stub