Newly formed 'The Democratic Union' party vows to take down Netanyahu

Leaders of the newly formed party,"The Democratic Union," held a press conference in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening, promising that their new political platform would focus on "social change" and a priority on peace. 

Led by former prime minister Ehud Barak, Labour Party defector Stav Shafir, and left-wing Meretz Party chairman Nitzan Horowitz, the three took to the stage to make their pitch to the Israeli public. 

"The public demands unity and connection," Horowitz bellowed from his podium, adding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's monopoly on power over the past decade "has come to end."

Horowitz also said that "racism, nationalism, occupation and religious coercion" has been fostered too long under the Netanyahu government, and called for voters to prioritize secular values and equality before the eyes of the law. 

Horowitz will lead the new party while Shafir is second on the party list of parliament representatives and Barak all the way down at tenth place -- a move that analysts suggest is meant to compensate for the negative publicity from his ties to Epstein.

Shaffir joined The Democratic Union after taking issue with the Labor party leader Amir Peretz over his unwillingness to join forces with other left-wing parties. 

Shaffir said her decision to leave the Labor Party, which she called her "political" and "ideological home" was a difficult decision, but “when the house is on fire, you go outside and help putting the fire out. And then you rebuild it.”

"The initiators of the union believe that forming the Democratic Union is the first and crucial step in the mission of bringing Israel back on track," a statement from the alliance said.

Meretz barely passed the threshold in snap polls held in April, which saw Netanyahu and his right-wing and religious allies win a majority.

The Labor party announced last week its decision to merge with Orly-Levy Abekasis’s Gesher to form a joint list, but Peretz said this week that he would not merge with either Meretz or Barak’s Israel Democratic Party, as it would "put walls up in front of additional demographic groups who would otherwise join us.”

Horowitz denounced the merger with Abekasis as a win for Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Peretz destroyed the possibility for mergers within the left,” Horowitz said, according to local media. “He wants to shift right and join Netanyahu’s government.”

But the freshly elected Labor leader has been adamant about refusing to join Netanyahu’s coalition while the longest-serving prime minister faces graft charges. 

Reports suggest Peretz is engaged in negotiations with former head of Shin Bet Yuval Diskin.