Radical Activists Supporting 'One-State' Vision Join Israel's Democratic Party

The Democratic Party in Israel recently celebrated a successful membership drive, adding over 100,000 new members. However, it has emerged that among these new recruits are radical activists affiliated with the Arab-Jewish party Da'am and the workers' organization Ma'an, who openly reject the two-state solution and advocate for replacing Israel's Jewish identity with a "state of all its citizens" from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

These activists admit to employing a "stages theory" strategy to influence the Democratic Party from within and undermine its Zionist values. They view the Oslo Accords and the Palestinian Authority as obstacles to their goal of establishing a secular, democratic state without a national Jewish character. Paradoxically, they also see the party chairman, Yair Golan, as a political obstacle due to his military background and support for separation and two states.

Da'am leaders, including senior member Asaf Adib, emphasize that their immediate priority is to replace the current government led by Netanyahu, Smotrich, and Ben Gvir. They consider the Democratic Party a "new reality" still forming, which provides an opportunity to shape its values and agenda. They have openly supported Moran Zar Katzenshtein, a leading figure in the Kaplan protest movement, who welcomed their backing in a special video.

For candidates like Zar Katzenshtein, the upcoming primaries and the need to secure every possible vote appear to outweigh concerns about the ideological implications of accepting support from activists who deny the Jewish character of the state. This development highlights internal tensions within the Democratic Party as it navigates its identity and political alliances ahead of elections.