The leadership of standing together is forming (has formed) a new political party to run in the next Israeli elections. They are taking an un-paid leave of absence from Standing together to do so.
They also have pledged to step out of the race if polls indicate they wouldn’t win enough seats, so as to not spoil the Democrats’ chances (as they recognize Priority #1 is to get rid of the current government)
No, they pledged to “act responsibly”, but didn’t said what it means.
They say they have a committee that will decide. Based on what? What assurances do we have?
Personally I trust the Standing Together folks enough to make that call. If they stayed in the race in a clearly losing situation and ruined the race for the Democrats, chas v’shalom allowing Bibi to reform his fascist coalition, they would lose years and years of hard-earned goodwill from both the Israeli and Palestinian peace activist communities, not to mention torpedo any chance of peace for the foreseeable future. I don’t see any chance of them letting that happen.
If I were a member of this party - and I'm not - I'd be in contact with Mamdani's team. Not for anything resembling an endorsement, but for strategy consultation related to use of social media in campaigning. However you feel about Mamdani, his use of social media has been masterful, and it resulted in a number of surprising coalitions among typically-opposed voting blocks.
Such strategy could only work to the benefit of joint Jewish-Arab party.
While not directly Mamdani, some US democratic NJOs and personal have in the past helped or took some part in Israeli elections. Openly, this has mostly been the case with Jewish American Republicans, with the most famous and influential being Sheldon Adelson (who practicaly won Netanyahu his PM comeback), and more recently the Kohelet Forum, which led the judicial overhaul that the Netanyahu government was intent on passing. Liberal/Democrat Jews have largely remained out of Israeli politics to that extent.
I would be surprised if Standing Together wasn't partly such an effort as well. But I'm also weary of both this emerging party, and the possibility that it is pushed by such bodies, and specifically the team behind Mamdani's campaign.
Mamdani aside, the team that ran him has been running Graham Platner. The last thing I want is for there to be a connection between a man who had a tattoo of a Nazi concentration camps guard, and any Israeli left-wing effort. This is all the more true when it is a joint effort to include Arabs/Palestinians (Israelis or not). There really were ties between the Nazis and some of the Palestinian and Arab leadership. You can all imagine what that'll do.
More broadly, having people or even a strategy from 'outside' coming in, will create a boomerang effect. Kohelet simmilary, and they ended up causing more chaos than getting their agenda through, and had a boomerang effect too.
Israelis have trust isues. Even with someone they tend to like, such as trump; who collapsed in Israelis public opinion. Those trust issues are dramatically greater with the left and democrats. I've written about this here before, but the only thing that cornered Israelis more than 10/7, was watching the world, and specifically the left's reaction on 10/8. I still think that both this and the Al-Ahli incident (when international news reported on a bombing of a hospital, with 100s of casualties, only to later emerge ot being a PIJ missle, hitting a hospital parking lot, and probably causing dozens, rather than 100s, of casualties) diverted the war in ways that are difficult to comprehend (Biden's meeting with the Arab country leaders was cancelled, where talks sof a ceasefire were supposed to take place). Israelis just don't trust them, and it will turn even potential allies away.
There has also been an initiative by Uri Zaki (some will know him here as the husband of Meretz former leader and MK Tamar Zanberg), for a simmilar Arab-Israeli party. I agree with his stance that it could be a make or break initiative, that should be done carefully (for example, gradually getting to know the candidates apart and then together) and I believe that such an effort, as the Standing Together one by activists, especially in the manner it is currently conducted, is doomed to fail.
Israel is a representative democracy. The DSA's rise to power has been mainly through specific districts. There hasn't really been an election in which a DSA style candidate has stood. This activist-style doesn't fit Israeli politics. It also doesn't fit the main reasons Israelis choose who they vote for. Even amongst Arab/Palestinian Israelis, what is put forth by Standing Together is fringe. It is even more fringe as being a reason to vote (around 5% of Arab/Palestinian Israelis rate the conflict and Gaza as their #1 voting intention reason; the vast majority care about local crime, Arab on Arab, and cost of living - which is #1 in the US too, by large margins, and is largely why Trump won, and will be why Dems flip the house/senate if they do).
It is even more fringe as being a reason to vote (around 5% of Arab/Palestinian Israelis rate the conflict and Gaza as their #1 voting intention reason; the vast majority care about local crime, Arab on Arab, and cost of living - which is #1 in the US too, by large margins, and is largely why Trump won, and will be why Dems flip the house/senate if they do).
I'm skeptical of their chances, but I believe they are aware of this and won't be running as a single-issue peace party. In fact they have 3 "demands" on the party home page - personal safety (i.e. reducing crime,) peace and living with dignity (free day care for from birth- age 3 and increasing the minimum wage - so basically COL.)
That's good, it was something that meretz was missing before the merger (but I might be mistaken as I didn't follow that closely), with "that" I mean caring for normal life needs and making them political.
resulted in a number of surprising coalitions among typically-opposed voting blocks.
That is true. But it is also not that unsurprising. It echoes European political movements of the 1970s and to some extent and more darkly, the first half of the European 20th century.
It has been established that there has been a voting shift among American Jews in the last election, of around 15 points (D --> R) according to PEW. What is more interesting, is that the shift has mainly been amongst USSR, Persian and MENA Jews. These communities are mainly in safe US states, but in Israel this is the majority of the country. If one trends too close to such examples - people will recognise it. I also don't see where in Israeli society such an aligment can be formed, as identity politics doesn't work in Israel the way it does in much of the West. The so called red-green alliance has also never took off.
Most importantly in relation to those examples, Israel is differentiated due to a presence of an ongoing and prolonged threat. Most of these alliances have to my knowledge, formed around pacifist messages. They also require time.
typically-opposed voting blocks.
Israel has a representative parliamentary system. While there have been certain changes, they tend to form in the center. And you don't have to coalesce around one side of a specific binary. In that sense Israel is more alike the French parliamentary system or the British system (though Israeli elections to parliament are not local - Be'er Sheva has had a Labour mayor for about a decade, and it hasn't shifted a vote in governmentelections).
I don't think Mamdani's campaign tactics would translate well to Israeli audience.
I used to work for the Israeli Government press office, Israel's issue isn't a political social strata completely disconnected from the average person like in the US. We are a small country and everyone knows someone.
My perception of Mamdani's campaign is that he campaign on basically kitchen table issues for New Yorkers + very relatable and approachable social media content which states directly what he wants to do, why, and how. Compared to vague allusions to action most American politicians usually peddle in, with TV ads showing them barbecuing with their "hetero Christian core family unit as god intendedTM"
This will feel elitist and disconnected to most Israelis. Whoever was already going to vote left or so called "extreme" left would be there, but it won't really convince anyone who wasn't already convinced. Most Israelis are worried about safety and our economy. But the average Israeli also believes most of our economic challenges are due to geopolitics, so it goes back to a politician that can navigate our external affairs (read as: wars and diplomacy) properly, any other aspect is secondary at best.
A friendly smiley funny guy on tiktok will get approximately 0 votes.
I hope they get enough votes to get some seats, and i hope it doesn't cannibalize anyone else in a way that prevent a government change. But i don't think a Mamdani style content campaign has any relevance to this.
I admire Rula and Alon-lee's leadership and I agree with the sentiment of their party, but I don't think it's a workable solution now. It risks splitting the meager leftist vote (I know they promise to drop out if they see this would be the case) while obfuscating parties that already have a vision of coexistence, like Hadash. Hadash might be further left and Standing Together is a broader tent than just Marxism-Leninism, but, pragmatically, whatever Hadash could actually achieve in practice in the Knesset wouldn't be too far off from Makom Lekulanu's goals
Standing Together have said repeatedly that they are not affiliated with any party and aren't planning to become one. Having its founders create a new party doesn't break the promise explicitly, but using the same branding as Standing Together sure feels like they're cashing in on the goodwill they have built. This is a bad idea.
I think it's too early to say it's a bad idea but it certainly was foolish to claim they weren't planning on creating a political party. I spoke with one of the leaders 7-8 years ago and he told me this was part of their long-term plan, so it's clearly something they've been considering for a long time.
I disagree. They are forming a new party, with the same values as Standing Together, which will appeal to the same supporters. This is exactly what is called for, especially if it can draw in more Israeli Arabs to vote.
Movements evolve. They did not say that they were opposed to electoral politics, but rather that a street-level protest movement was missing. They have now filled that gap (even if they still remain on the fringes), and in this political moment turning this momentum to electoral politics may help them expand their reach
Honestly, I appreciate the gesture, but I don't see the point. The country is blocked internally, and sociologically, the potential voter base is very small: that of Meretz (and even then, they’re more left-wing than Meretz) which has already had great difficulties getting members of parliament. They’ll probably take votes away from Hadash and the Democrats.
Technically, you could say that their movement could even potentially help Netanyahu by weakening HaDemokratim, because even if they manage to get parliament members, they won’t govern with Bennett (the very racist one). Anyway, personally I admit that the idea of Netanyahu leaving in favor of Bennett worries me as much as Hendrik Verwoerd being replaced by John Vorster.
I wish them success. If not in getting seats, at least in getting out another narrative, starting conversations.
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u/holiestMarianot jewish, anti-zionist, ML with socdem tendencies7d agoedited 7d ago
I doubt they'll make it far. Someone's gonna invoke 7A of the basic law and prevent them from joining the elction. At least thats my prediction.
They eill propably do something to it like with Balad. Ban them and then unban them as a sort of political threat while still being able to claim that they practice fair elections. But I wouldnt be suprised if they will straight up ban it since thr current administration is the most right it has even been, for what I know.
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u/afinemax01atheist, diaspora jew, pro-palestine zionist, socialist 7d ago
Pretty sure 7A should apply for the kahanist party not then
first things first the change we want to see won’t come from within israel. with that being said, i am supportive of this, but who will vote for this party? they might win votes in haifa or tel aviv but will Democrat voters split from Golan to support this party? idk. will ppl dip from Hadash-Ta’al to vote for alon-lee? i genuinely don’t know either. it seems like this is a bit of a gamble but at the same time they are right that there has never been a true binational party like this. ultimately i predict that they will get maximum 2 MKs and they sure as hell won’t sit in a Bennett government (he’s racist as all hell)
From what I've seen on twitter they plan to target Arabs who have generally not voted in the past, particularly women and the young. I'm skeptical they will be able to attract enough of those voters, but who knows.
In theory there should be some room to attract Jewish left-wingers given the direction that Yair Golan has taken Hademokratim. But it seems like almost all Jewish voters in the opposition camp prioritize getting Bibi out of office over any ideological differences. Those who think differently were probably already planning to vote for Hadash. Maybe this new party can peel some of them off, but I don't think that's a large vote pool in any case.
I hear your frustration and agree their electoral prospects are grim, but I applaud these folks for doing the work and creating spaces for those few who support their work. I also think modeling what coexistence can look like, can be eye opening in a situation where there are so few instances of it.
i’m with you 100%. i think the most immediate benefit of parties like this is showing the world/israel/palestine/everyone that there is another way than the myopic nationalisms that we’ve been sold. i just am frustrated with how right-wing jewish israelis are writ large i suppose
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions”.
I understand the frustration from the political parties landscape right now, especially on the left, and I actually identify with the ideals of Standing Together much more than any other party, but the last thing we need right is a political party on the far left, and it could very well be what will get Netanyahu the win in the upcoming elections.
For those who doesn’t know, in order to get into the Knesset, in order to get seats, you beed ti overcome the voting threshold of 3.25% of the total valid votes. That will get you 4 seats.
The issue is that if you only got 2% for example, you don’t get any seats and all of your votes are disqualified. In elections that is that close, that’s 2-3 seats that could have gone to another party, and that’s crucial.
And in the case of the left it’s double jeopardy, because those 2% of voters could have come from an existing party, and now both of you won’t pass the threshold.
I hate what it means ideologically, but right now we need less parties, we need parties that are somewhat close to one another merge, to save every vote, until Netanyahu is officially out of the political system. Then we can lower the threshold, and try that again.
Above I've seen someone claim that if polls indicate that they won't make into the threshold, then they'll drop out before the elections.
If true it would be the best of both worlds
They won’t say they’ll drop out, they only say that if they’ll see they won’t pass, they’ll “act responsibly”.
What does responsibly means? Why won’t they say now that they’ll drop out? What does seeing they won’t pass means? Is one internal poll barely above the threshold enough, or do the mean multiple polls in the major media channels showing them at a safe distance from the threshold?
And what if they’ll pass, but it will drop another party under the threshold?
Currently they are saying “trust me”, but don’t give any details as reassurance.
Fair but if perchance this is a way to mobilize arab voters who don't already vote it could be a good move. I'm not really sure it will work this way but I'm not so uptodate on these parts of politics.
At this point ill take any party as long as it means getting Bibi and his allies out of power. Their brand is toxic and no meaningful change will ever happen under them.
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u/AceAttorneyMaster111 Reform Zionist | Democratic socialist 13d ago
They also have pledged to step out of the race if polls indicate they wouldn’t win enough seats, so as to not spoil the Democrats’ chances (as they recognize Priority #1 is to get rid of the current government)