Yair Golan vows to replace Netanyahu, backs coalition with Arab party Ra'am - interview

Yair Golan leads the Democrats, a left-wing party formed by merging Labor and Meretz. He previously served as the IDF’s deputy chief of staff and as an MK for Meretz. His central political promise is to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government after the October 27 elections.

Golan says the Democrats would work with Ra’am, an Arab party led by Mansour Abbas, if they could agree on a policy platform. He also wants a future government to assign every citizen military or civilian service and reform haredi education. He says the Democrats would seek the Education Ministry.

Recent polling gives the Democrats approximately nine seats. Golan says his party will do everything possible to establish an alternative government, but he cannot speak for every opposition leader. He argues that strengthening the Democrats would make meaningful political change more likely.

A coalition government is an administration built by multiple parties that agree to govern together. It matters because parties must combine their parliamentary strength to support a prime minister, pass laws, and survive confidence votes. A single party may win more seats than any other party without holding enough seats to govern alone.

In this case, Golan leads a party polling at approximately nine seats, so the Democrats could not replace Netanyahu by themselves. They would need support from other opposition parties. Golan openly supports including Ra’am, while some possible partners oppose working with Arab parties. He also rejects parties that were part of the government he says was responsible for the October 7 failures.

The article does not give the opposition’s final seat total or coalition formula. Golan says he cannot speak for other opposition leaders, showing that replacing Netanyahu depends on negotiations and shared red lines.

The clearest scale in the article is Israel’s Arab citizen population: Golan says it exceeds 20% of all citizens. He argues that excluding this population from government because of national or ethnic identity is unacceptable. His proposed inclusion specifically centers on Ra’am, not necessarily every Arab party.

The article does not state how many haredim live in Israel or how many seats the haredi parties hold. Golan says parties that were part of the government responsible for the October 7 failures should not join the future coalition. He also proposes service requirements and education reforms aimed at integrating haredim more broadly.

This creates a sharp coalition boundary. Golan favors cooperation with Ra’am but opposes including certain current government parties. The final balance would depend on election results and whether other opposition leaders accept these conditions.

Golan’s main claim is that Netanyahu, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Bezalel Smotrich damaged Israel’s relationship with both Democrats and Republicans in Washington. He says this weakened Israel’s diplomatic position and reduced its influence with its principal ally.

His concrete example is that even Trump, whom Golan identifies as the American president, is making decisions and striking deals concerning Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran without Israel at the table. Golan treats Israel’s exclusion from these negotiations as evidence that the government has “burned bridges” in Washington.

The consequence, in his account, is more than a poor bilateral relationship. Israel has become an obstacle to regional progress and an international liability for US diplomacy, rather than a strategic asset. Golan says this could affect agreements crucial to Israel’s security and the country’s role in shaping Middle East arrangements.

Ra’am’s participation is politically significant because it could determine whether an opposition coalition can include Arab representation. The Democrats are the only opposition party openly supporting Arab parties in a potential coalition. Other possible partners hold harder-line positions against such cooperation after October 7, making Ra’am a major source of disagreement.

Golan points to the previous government as evidence that cooperation can work. He says Mansour Abbas, Ra’am’s leader, was an excellent political partner when all current opposition party heads served in that government. Golan therefore sees no reason to rule out working with Abbas again.

He proposes cooperation based on an agreed policy platform. However, he does not say whether the Joint List’s three parties—Hadash, Ta’al, and Balad—should join. Ra’am’s possible role could therefore help form a coalition, but it could also expose divisions among opposition partners.

Several arrangements could theoretically help the opposition replace Netanyahu. One would include Ra’am in the governing coalition, as Golan openly proposes. Another would involve only some Arab parties, since Golan specifically supports Ra’am but does not endorse the Joint List. A third could rely on outside support from a party that does not hold ministries.

The main mechanism is negotiation around shared policies and red lines. Golan says cooperation with Ra’am should be based on an agreed policy platform. He also says parties that belonged to the government responsible for the October 7 failures should not enter the future coalition. That position could exclude some haredi parties, depending on which parties he means.

The article does not identify a complete alternative coalition or say which parties would support it. Golan explicitly cannot speak for other opposition leaders. Election results and negotiations would decide whether any arrangement could command enough parliamentary backing.

Israel’s parliamentary system turns votes into seats for party lists through nationwide proportional representation. The party winning the most seats is therefore not automatically entitled to govern alone. Governing power depends on whether a party or alliance can command parliamentary support and form a coalition.

The key mechanism is bargaining among parties after the election. Parties negotiate over the prime minister, ministries, policy platforms, and red lines. In this article, Golan’s Democrats poll at approximately nine seats, so they would need other parties to help replace Netanyahu. Support could come through coalition membership or, depending on the arrangement, parliamentary backing from outside the government.

The article does not explain Israel’s electoral rules or give a required majority. These details come from established knowledge about Israel’s system. The practical implication is clear: election results create a pool of bargaining power, while coalition agreements determine who can actually govern.