At the event marking the launch of the Democratic Union, a merger of the leftist Meretz party with former prime minister Ehud Barak’s Israel Democratic Party, any left-wing sensibilities seem to have been firmly packed away.

The Meretz platform, calling for an end to occupation and a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has apparently been put on the back burner in favor of Barak’s agenda, which can be summed up as a call to remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office.

But that spot has already been taken.

The speeches made at the festive event presenting the Democratic Union’s list of prospective Knesset candidates were practically identical to those made when the Blue and White Party launched just before the last round of elections in April.

Read the full article at Ynet.