HaKahal proposes an independent Haredi service framework with the authority to take a soldier out of the army, even if the army objects, when his religious conditions are breached. That is part of its written draft proposal.2
Who is HaKahal?
HaKahal is headed by Rabbi Shlomo Albaum. The saved election committee record gives it the letters resh tzadi, רץ, and says the list was submitted by Machane Israel.1
What has HaKahal published?
The party published a sixteen-page Hebrew booklet called "There is another way," with the subtitle "Responsibility without compromise." Its public web platform carries the same policy chapters.23
The booklet focuses on draft arrangements and public representation, then resident services and education, housing and violence. It says these chapters do not cover everything the party has to say. I'll walk them through the same checklist used for every party.2
HaKahal's positions, topic by topic
The same twelve topics, in the same order, for every party. Where nothing was published, the episode says so.
What does HaKahal say about security and foreign policy?
I couldn't find a published position on Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, the Palestinian question, or foreign relations in the public platform and website material reviewed.234
The housing chapter describes new Haredi settlements as a "security anchor." That is its argument for the housing proposal, rather than a separate military or diplomatic program.2
What does HaKahal say about accountability for October 7?
I couldn't find a position on a state commission of inquiry into October 7 in the public material reviewed.234
What does HaKahal say about the economy and the cost of living?
I couldn't find a general tax, cost-of-living, or wage program in the public booklet and website material. The party does make proposals about housing and how municipal resources should be allocated. I'll cover those in their own sections.234
What every party says about the economy and the cost of living
What does HaKahal say about housing?
The booklet calls for a multi-year national plan for Haredi housing. It says the plan should set in advance how many apartments will be built each year, and that the plan should be published. It names the Negev, the Galilee, and what it calls "Judea and Samaria."2
It wants whole towns and cities planned from the beginning, alongside Haredi community settlements. The booklet says those settlements should include religious and educational facilities from their first day. It also presents settlement as a way to hold and protect land. That is the party's stated rationale.2
The proposed delivery body is a Haredi housing administration, led by professionals who are God-fearing and appointed with the agreement of Haredi public representatives. It would plan housing along with institutions and transportation, and livelihoods close to home.2
The administration would publish an annual account of what was built and what was delayed, with reasons for the delays. Apartments would be sold using published criteria and a transparent queue. The booklet does not itself give an annual apartment target or a purchase price.2
What does HaKahal say about religion and state?
The draft proposal has three steps, and the booklet says the party will not give up any of them. First, someone who is studying Torah would not be drafted, and the booklet says that protection should be written into law. It presents protection of yeshiva students as a condition it will not compromise.2
Second, for people who are not studying, it promises a Haredi framework "of the strictest standard," where "whoever enters Haredi leaves Haredi." As long as the framework meets that test, the booklet says the yeshiva students' deferral stays in law and is not reopened every year.2
Third, it proposes that this independent Haredi framework be headed by a God-fearing person appointed with the agreement of Haredi public representatives.2
That framework would prepare recruits, set binding religious rules, and agree conditions with the military in each unit before placing soldiers. The booklet says those conditions would include rules about when a soldier's life may be put at risk. It says its demand for a God-fearing head is about more than prayer and kashrut; it also concerns when and for what a soldier's life is risked.2
The framework would also have the power to remove a soldier from the army when his conditions as a religious person are breached, even if the army objects. The booklet says the Haredi recruit would enter this framework rather than join the army directly, and only the framework would approve his placement.2
The number of recruits would be agreed between Haredi public representatives and the defense establishment. It would not be imposed from above. The platform gives no numerical recruitment quota in that chapter.2
The party summarizes its position as yes to enlistment through independent Haredi frameworks, no to forced conscription, and no to what it calls secularization. Those are the party's own terms.2
I couldn't find separate proposals on Shabbat, marriage, conversion, or religious funding in the reviewed public material. Education funding is addressed in the school chapter.234
What does HaKahal say about the judiciary and governance?
The governance chapter concerns the party's own representatives. The booklet says the Knesset list should be chosen in public primaries from a Council of the Community. A council representative needs one hundred named supporters, and the party says there are no reserved places on the list.24
Its Knesset members and ministers would commit in advance to follow Council decisions reached by a special majority throughout the term. It also requires representatives who seek rabbinic advice to report whom they asked, what they asked, and what answer they received.2
The rabbis keep authority over questions of Torah and Jewish law. A rabbinic committee would approve candidates as God-fearing and fit to serve, and the public would choose among the approved candidates. That is the division of authority the booklet sets out.2
These are internal party commitments. I couldn't find a separate proposal about judicial selection, the attorney general, or the national electoral system in the reviewed public material.234
What does HaKahal say about education?
On curriculum, the party demands equal funding for Haredi education without curricular conditions, and full autonomy as defined in law. It says the state has no business in the curriculum of the cheder and the seminary, the Haredi boys' and girls' schools.2
The booklet does not name core subjects explicitly. I am reporting its demand for funding without curricular conditions, without adding a more specific statement about individual subjects.2
It also wants written admission criteria in every Haredi school, available to parents in advance. Each community could retain its religious rules, but those rules would have to apply equally, including to people with connections.2
A parent whose child is rejected could appeal to an independent panel of God-fearing members from all streams and communities. That panel would check the decision against the school's own published criteria. A school that refused to accept the panel's ruling would face a reduction in funding.2
The proposal gives us an admissions rule and an enforcement mechanism. It does not give a new nationwide school-funding formula or specify the size of the funding reduction.2
What does HaKahal say about health?
I couldn't find a published healthcare position in the public material reviewed.234
What does HaKahal say about social welfare, pensions and the elderly?
I couldn't find separate proposals on pensions, allowances, or the elderly in the booklet and website material reviewed. Services for individual residents appear in a separate chapter, which I'll come to at the end.234
What every party says about social welfare, pensions and the elderly
What does HaKahal say about Arab citizens and minorities?
I couldn't find a published position on Arab citizens or minorities in the public material reviewed.234
What does HaKahal say about immigration, absorption and the diaspora?
I couldn't find a published immigration, absorption, or diaspora program in the public material reviewed.234
What every party says about immigration, absorption and the diaspora
What does HaKahal say about the environment, energy and transportation?
Transportation is part of what the proposed housing administration would plan alongside homes and local livelihoods. I couldn't find a separate national transportation program, or a published environment or energy policy, in the reviewed public material.234
What every party says about the environment, energy and transportation
What HaKahal puts front and center
The booklet has a chapter about the individual Haredi resident. Its rule is that services should follow resident numbers and need, rather than personal connections. Public buildings allocated to all residents should stay open to all residents.2
For land, public buildings, and kindergartens, it wants written allocation criteria published in advance, a transparent queue, and reasoned answers in writing. Every neighborhood would have a named Council representative, and requests would be logged.2
The last chapter addresses violence. HaKahal's representatives commit to condemn violence in every case, especially when it comes from within their own community. Toward the community, the party rejects what it calls arbitrary force, sudden arrests, and orders meant to apply pressure. It says it would use all parliamentary and public tools to prevent them.2
Those are commitments about how the party would respond. The chapter does not publish a new criminal-law framework or a detailed police-oversight procedure.2
What HaKahal hasn't published
The booklet publishes concrete mechanisms for service arrangements, school admissions, representation, and housing administration. It does not supply a general program for foreign policy, the economy, healthcare, or several other checklist topics in the material reviewed. Those gaps belong alongside the commitments it does make.234
Sources
Everything above comes from what HaKahal made public: its platform, website and official accounts, and on-the-record statements by its leaders. Each line was checked against a saved copy of its source. Most sources are in Hebrew.
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Transcript
The words as spoken in the episode, from its captions. Select a time to listen from there.
Full transcript
Intro
Ha-Kahal proposes an independent Haredi service framework with the authority to take a soldier out of the army, even if the army objects when his religious conditions are breached. This is part of its written draft proposal. This is Close Read, and this is a series about what Israel's parties are promising to do in their own published words for
About this series
English-speaking voters ahead of the October 27th election. One party per episode. I only use the party itself has made public their platform, their website, their official accounts, and on-the-record statements by their leaders. If they didn't publish it, it doesn't count. And if they publish nothing, that's the episode. Ha-Kahal is headed by Rabbi Shlomo Aobam. The saved election committee record gives it the letters Reish Tzadi, Ratz, and says the
Who they are
list was submitted by Machaneh Israel. The party published a 16-page Hebrew booklet called, quote, There Is Another Way, with a
What they've published
subtitle, quote, Responsibility Without Compromise, end quote. Its public web platform carries the same policy chapters. The booklet focuses on draft arrangements and public representation, then resident services and education, housing, and violence. It says these chapters do not cover everything the party has to say. I'll walk through the same checklist nonetheless used for every party. I couldn't find a published position on the topics of Gaza, on the topics of Lebanon, Iran, the Palestinian question, or on foreign relations in general, in the public platform and the website material reviewed. The housing chapter describes new Haredi settlements as, quote, a security anchor, end quote.
That is its argument for the housing proposal, rather than a separate military or a diplomatic program. I couldn't find a position in anything they've written on a state commission of inquiry into October 7th, 2023, in the public material reviewed. I couldn't find a general tax, a cost of living, or a wage program in the public booklet and the website material. The party does make proposals about housing and how municipal resources should be allocated, and I'll cover those in their own sections. The booklet calls for a multi-year national plan for Haredi housing. It says the plan should set in advance how many apartments will be built each year, and that the plan should be published.
It names the Negev, the Galilee, and the West Bank, or Judea, and Samaria. It wants whole towns and cities planned from the beginning, alongside Haredi community settlements. The booklet says those settlements should include religious and educational facilities from their first day. It also presents settlement as a way to hold and protect the land. That is the party's stated rationale. The proposed delivery body is a new Haredi housing administration, led by professionals who are God-fearing and appointed with the agreement of Haredi public representatives. It would plan housing along with institutions and transportation, and with livelihoods that are close to home.
The administration would publish an annual account of what was built and what was delayed with reasons for the delays. Apartments would be sold using published criteria and a transparent queue. The booklet does not give itself an annual apartment target or a purchase price for those units. The draft proposal has three steps, and the booklet says the party will not give up on any of them. First, someone who is studying Torah would not be drafted, and the booklet says that protection should be written into law. It presents protection of yeshiva students as a condition that it will not compromise. Second, for people who are not studying, it promises a Haredi framework of, quote, the strictest standard, end quote, where, quote, whoever enters Haredi life leaves in Haredi life, end quote.
As long as the framework meets that test, the booklet says the yeshiva student's deferral stays in law and is not reopened every year. Third, it proposes that this independent Haredi framework be guided by a God-fearing, person, appointed with the agreement of Haredi public representatives. That framework would prepare recruits, set binding religious rules, and agree conditions with the military in each unit before placing soldiers. The booklet says those conditions would include rules about when a soldier's life may be put at risk. It says its demand for a God-fearing head is about more than prayer and kashrut. It also concerns when and for what a soldier's life is risked.
That framework would also have the power to remove a soldier from the army when his conditions as a religious person are breached, even if the army objects. Even if the army objects, the booklet says the Haredi recruit would enter this framework rather than just join the army directly, and only the framework would approve his placement. The number of recruits would be agreed between Haredi public representatives and the defense establishment. The platform gives no numerical recruitment quota in that chapter. The party summarizes its position as yes to enlistment through independent Haredi frameworks, no to forced conscription, and no to what it calls secularization. These are the party's own terms. I could not find separate proposals on Shabbat, marriage, conversion, or religious funding in the reviewed public material.
Education funding is addressed in the school chapter. The governance chapter concerns the party's own representatives. The booklet says the Knesset list should be chosen in public primaries from a council of the community. A council representative needs 100 named supporters, and the party says there are no reserved places on the list. Its Knesset members and ministers would commit in advance to follow council decisions reached by a special majority throughout the term. It also requires representatives who seek rabbinic advice to report whom they asked, what they asked, and what answer they received. The rabbis keep authority over questions of Torah and Jewish law. A rabbinic committee would approve candidates as God-fearing and fit to serve, and the public would choose among the approved candidates.
That is the division of authority the booklet sets out. These are internal party commitments. I couldn't find a separate proposal about judicial selection, the attorney general, or the national electoral system in the reviewed public material. On curriculum, the party demands equal funding for Haredi education, without curricular conditions, and full autonomy as defined in law. It says the state has no business in the curriculum of the Cheder and the seminary, the Haredi Boys and Girls Schools. The booklet does not name core subjects explicitly. I am reporting its demand for funding without curricular conditions, without adding a more specific statement about individual subjects.
It also wants written admission criteria at every Haredi school, available to parents in advance. Each community could retain its own religious rules, but those rules would have to apply equally, including to people with connections. A parent whose child is rejected could appeal to an independent panel of God-fearing members from all streams and communities. That panel would check the decision against the school's own published criteria. A school that refused to accept the panel's ruling would face a reduction in funding. The proposal gives us an admissions rule and an enforcement mechanism. It does not give a new nationwide school funding formula or specify the size of the funding reduction.
I couldn't find a published health care position in the public material that I reviewed. I couldn't find separate proposals on pensions, allowances, or the elderly in the booklet and the website material reviewed. Services for individual residents appear in separate chapters, which we'll come to at the end. I couldn't find a published position on Arab citizens or on minorities in the public
Security, October 7
material reviewed. I also couldn't find a published position on immigration, absorption, or diaspora programs in the public material reviewed. Transportation is part of what the proposed Housing Administration would plan alongside homes and local livelihoods.
Environment, energy, and transportation
I couldn't find a separate national transportation program or a published environment or energy policy in the reviewed public material. The booklet has a chapter about the individual Haredi resident. Its rule is that services should follow
What they put front and center
resident numbers and needs, rather than personal connections. Public buildings allocated to all residents should stay open to all residents. For land, public buildings, and kindergartens, it wants written allocation criteria published in advance. A transparent queue and reasoned answers in writing. Every neighborhood would have a named council representative and requests would be logged. The last chapter addresses violence. Hakkahal's representatives commit to condemn violence in every case, especially when it comes from within their own community. Toward the community, the party rejects what it calls arbitrary force, sudden arrest, and orders meant to apply pressure. It says it would use all parliamentary and public tools to prevent them.
Those are commitments about how the party would respond. The chapter does not publish a new criminal law framework or a detailed policy oversight procedure. The booklet publishes concrete mechanisms for service arrangements, school admissions, representation, and housing administrations.
What's missing
It does not supply a general program for foreign policy, the economy, health care, or several other checklist topics in the material reviewed. Those gaps belong alongside the commitments that it does make. That's what Kahal has put in writing in the material I reviewed as of this recording. Every source I use is linked in the description, most of them in Hebrew, so you can read them yourself. If they publish more before the election, I will do my best to put an update in the comments. Next is list number 37, United Torah Judaism. And the full playlist is linked below. The Close Read is free to watch and to listen. And if you'd like to support it, you can find me on Patreon at patreon.com slash theclosedread, linked in the description.
