Launching election campaign, Democrats’ Golan says blood spilled in West Bank is on PM’s hands

The left-wing Democrats party launched its election campaign at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday, with leader Yair Golan stating the party is "embarking on the most fateful battle ever for the future of the State of Israel." Golan, who merged Labor and Meretz, vowed to secure one million votes in the October 27 election and criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, asserting that "Our soldiers’ blood that has been spilled, and that unfortunately is yet to be spilled, is on their hands" following a deadly West Bank clash. The party aims to dismantle settler outposts, cancel judicial overhaul laws, and bar criminal defendants from holding office. MK Naama Lazimi, the party's No. 2, pledged to reform the education system to promote equality and democracy. Concurrently, anti-government and far-left protests occurred across Israel, with nine arrests made in Tel Aviv after demonstrators blocked a road.