Israel’s Democrats party launched its election campaign Saturday evening with a rally at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, where party leader Yair Golan accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz of fueling instability in the West Bank.
Golan referred to a deadly incident near the Palestinian village of Tell in which Maj. Yuval Ezra and Benayahu Mellet were killed.
“Netanyahu and draft-dodging minister Katz are turning Judea and Samaria, on the eve of the election, into a powder keg that endangers human life and Israel’s security,” Golan said. “The blood of our soldiers that has been spilled, and will be spilled, is on their hands.”
Addressing the crowd, Golan presented the rally as the beginning of a broader political campaign to replace the government.
“This is what an awakening looks like,” he said. “This is what a camp looks like when it gets back on its feet, looks reality in the eye and decides to take the wheel. We are much more than a party. We are the great democratic movement that has risen to defend Israel.”
Golan said the party must convert the energy of public protest into electoral power.
“Protest alone does not replace a government. The ballot box replaces a government,” he said. “Tonight, we are embarking on the most consequential campaign ever fought over Israel’s future.”
He accused government supporters of operating what he described as a “poison machine” that would spread lies, incitement and fear during the campaign.
“They are doing it for one reason: They are afraid,” he said.
The Democrats’ election campaign launch rally
(Photo: Democrats)
Turning again to the previous day’s deadly events in the West Bank, Golan called for a full investigation and said such incidents must be brought to an end.
“They did not happen by chance,” he said, accusing Netanyahu and Katz of deliberately turning the territory into a volatile arena ahead of the election.
Golan pledged that a government led by his political camp would halt unauthorized Israeli incursions into Palestinian-administered Areas A and B, combat Jewish terrorism, dismantle armed militias associated with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and remove illegal outposts linked to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
“The IDF will return to focusing on defending Israel’s security,” he said.
He also promised to bring active fronts of conflict to a close and advance a regional diplomatic and security initiative intended to restore stability.
Golan further pledged to repeal legislation passed as part of the government’s judicial overhaul, establish an official state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre and pass a law preventing a person facing criminal charges from running for prime minister.
“We will restore security through military strength alongside diplomatic initiative,” Golan said. “We will restore personal safety, protect property and rebuild the rule of law. We will restore hope.”