Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced on Saturday evening that his new party will be called "Democratic Israel."
"The State of Israel is just ahead of a complete collapse of Israeli democracy," Barak tweeted. "Now is the time to bring back Israel's hope and courage, to unite and to bring Israel back to sanity. We are a Democratic Israel."
Barak announced the formation of his new party a week and a half ago. Prior to his decision to form an independent party, he was considering running for the leadership of the Labor party, which he last led in 2011 before splitting the party and forming the short-lived Independence party.
Barak has said in interviews that his party won't sit with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in one government under any circumstances. "Our goal is to bring Israel back on track and topple Netanyahu's regime."
Maj. Gen. (res.) Yair Golan joined Barak's party as number two on the list. Golan said that he wouldn't rule out sitting together with Arab parties in the Knesset. "If someone believes in a Jewish and democratic state that accepts minorities with a smile, we won't reject him. We reject only those who reject the very existence of the State," Golan said in an interview with Kan Bet on Monday.
Noa Rothman, the granddaughter of the late Prime Minister Yizchak Rabin, also joined Barak's party earlier this week.
It's likely that Barak will join with other parties, such as Labor and Meretz, to form a leftist bloc. Before Barak announced the formation of his new party, MK Amir Peretz, the newly elected chairman of the Labor Party said that he would have no problem granting the leadership of the party to his main political rival, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
"I held talks with Barak," Peretz said. "I suggested that he join the Labor Party although the conflicts between us are well-known. I told him that if he joined us, I have no problem letting him be number one. 'Help me to rehabilitate the house,' I requested of him."
"I told him that if he joined me in rehabilitating the party, I wouldn't reject anything, including him being in first place," Peretz added.
Peretz also said that the Labor party would not sit together with Netanyahu under any circumstances.