# Israel First: what they've published Close Read, episode 7. Israel First (ישראל תחילה), list 7, ballot letters י. Published October 5, 2026. Israel's Knesset election is on October 27, 2026. - Page: https://closeread.show/israel-2026/israel-first/ - Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=367VZy7xCL8 - Audio: https://media.closeread.show/audio/closeread-007-israel-first-6ad47cad.mp3 Israel First's work plan says every citizen should serve, in the army or in a civil national service, and that anyone who refuses would lose state benefits and housing assistance. [S4](#source-s4) ## Who is Israel First? Israel First, led by Sharren Haskel, ballot letter Yod. [S1](#source-s1) [S2](#source-s2) The Aleh Yarok party joined them for a joint run, and its chair, Nir Yoftero, is number three on the list. [S10](#source-s10) [S2](#source-s2) ## What has Israel First published? Their website, israelfirst.co.il, has a home page with principles and goals [S3](#source-s3) and a page called the national work plan, which is their platform. [S4](#source-s4) The work plan has four chapters: security, economy, education, and civil liberty and legalization. It's written in Hebrew, it isn't a PDF, and it isn't dated. I also went through Haskel's posts on X and the party's X account for anything that states a policy. [S5](#source-s5) [S6](#source-s6) ## What does Israel First say about security and foreign policy? The work plan says they'd dismantle the terror infrastructure in Gaza and Lebanon, fully demilitarize Hezbollah, destroy Hamas's governing and terror capabilities, and work to destabilize the regime in Iran, including "active support for internal opposition forces." [S4](#source-s4) It calls for an official declaration cancelling the Oslo Accords, saying terror groups violated them and they have no legal, security, or moral validity left. [S4](#source-s4) The home page says "there will be no territorial concessions." [S3](#source-s3) In August the party posted from the Jordan Valley that the valley is "inseparable from the State of Israel." [S5](#source-s5) They want to set up public diplomacy departments in the Foreign and Defense Ministries and a dedicated public diplomacy corps in the IDF. [S4](#source-s4) And in a September 8 post on X, Haskel wrote that Israeli industries, especially defense industries, should get incentives to bring work home or move it to friendly countries, and that countries that boycott Israelis shouldn't expect business as usual. She named Britain. [S9](#source-s9) ## What does Israel First say about accountability for October 7? I couldn't find a published position on October 7 accountability. ## What does Israel First say about the economy and the cost of living? The work plan would close and merge what it calls unnecessary government ministries and abolish the post of minister without portfolio. It says Israel has more than 30 ministries where the US or Britain has 15 to 20. [S4](#source-s4) It calls for a "drastic" cut to the corporate tax rate, to attract foreign companies and bring Israelis back. It doesn't give a target rate. [S4](#source-s4) The home page adds removing bureaucratic barriers and breaking up cartels and monopolies to lower the cost of living. [S3](#source-s3) ## What does Israel First say about housing? I couldn't find a housing policy. The only mention is that people who evade national service would lose housing assistance. [S4](#source-s4) ## What does Israel First say about religion and state? Their X posts come back to this topic several times. [S5](#source-s5) [S6](#source-s6) The work plan calls for an equal service law. Anyone who doesn't serve in the IDF would be required to do a defined national civil service. [S4](#source-s4) People who evade that duty, in the plan's words, would lose eligibility for state benefits, special allowances, housing assistance, and affirmative action preferences. Combat soldiers and reservists would get welfare packages, grants, and what the plan calls "absolute priority" in state institutions. [S4](#source-s4) On September 28 Haskel posted three commitments from a party press conference, and number three was "a draft law." [S6](#source-s6) I couldn't find a position on Shabbat, marriage, or conversion. ## What does Israel First say about the judiciary and governance? Haskel wrote on X on September 15 that the judicial system "must be fixed," and then: "Just not like this. Only quietly, through legislation, through parliamentary work." [S8](#source-s8) I couldn't find a specific proposal on the courts, judicial selection, or the attorney general. ## What does Israel First say about education? School vouchers. The work plan says the state would give every parent a yearly "education voucher" worth about 60,000 shekels, and parents would pick the school it goes to. Principals would get full autonomy to hire teachers and set pay and bonuses by performance, not only seniority. [S4](#source-s4) ## What does Israel First say about health? I couldn't find a published position on health. ## What does Israel First say about social welfare, pensions and the elderly? Beyond the reservist benefits I mentioned, I couldn't find a published position on welfare, pensions, or the elderly. ## What does Israel First say about Arab citizens and minorities? I couldn't find a published position on Arab citizens or minorities. ## What does Israel First say about immigration, absorption and the diaspora? On immigration, absorption, or the diaspora, I found nothing published. ## What does Israel First say about the environment, energy and transportation? I found no position on the environment, energy, or transportation. ## What Israel First puts front and center Besides the draft, it's cannabis. The fourth chapter of the work plan calls for full legalization, saying it's not the state's role to interfere with an adult's choices in his private time. The plan argues it would free police and courts for serious crime, cut off funding to organized crime, and create a taxed industry. [S4](#source-s4) The home page also lists reducing the state's involvement in citizens' lives. [S3](#source-s3) ## What Israel First hasn't published They haven't published positions on October 7, housing, health, pensions, Arab citizens, immigration, or the environment, and nothing specific on the courts. ## Chapters - 0:00 Intro - 0:18 About this series - 0:45 Who they are - 0:57 What they've published - 1:20 Security and foreign policy - 2:37 October 7, Economy - 3:24 Housing - 3:36 Religion and state - 4:18 Judiciary and governance - 4:39 Education - 4:59 Immigration, absorption, and diaspora - 5:33 Environment, Front and center - 6:17 What's missing ## Sources - S1: [Central Elections Committee, "רשימות המועמדים לכנסת" for the 26th Knesset (all lists with letters)](https://www.gov.il/he/pages/candidates-lists-26) (Official list index, Hebrew, published page updated 2026-09-30) - S2: [CEC page for "ישראל תחילה בראשות שרן השכל", submitted by "מפלגת ישראל תחילה - ביטחון, כלכלה, אחדות בעם ישראל", 12 candidates, ballot slip image](https://www.gov.il/he/pages/israel-tchila_list7) (Official list page, Hebrew, published 2026-09-07, updated 2026-09-29) - S3: [israelfirst.co.il home page: "ישראל תחילה, מחזירים את הכוח לרוב הציוני", "מי אנחנו", three principles, "מהן המטרות שלנו?"](https://israelfirst.co.il/) (Website, Hebrew, published 2026 (undated)) - S4: ["תוכנית העבודה הלאומית: ביטחון, כלכלה וחינוך", four chapters (א ביטחון, ב כלכלה, ג חינוך, ד חירות אזרחית ולגליזציה)](https://israelfirst.co.il/work-plan/) (Platform page, Hebrew, published 2026 (undated; home page labels it "2026")) - S5: [Party X account @Israelfirst26, posts P1 to P4 (Aug 5 to Aug 11, 2026)](https://x.com/Israelfirst26) (Social posts, Hebrew, published 2026-08-05 to 2026-08-11) - S6: [Sharren Haskel on X: three commitments "from my speech at the Israel First press conference"](https://x.com/SharrenHaskel/status/2104582684425015459) (Social post, Hebrew, published 2026-09-28) - S7: [Sharren Haskel on X, on Gaza and Hamas](https://x.com/SharrenHaskel/status/2102763313990140088) (Social post, Hebrew, published 2026-09-23) - S8: [Sharren Haskel on X, on the judicial system](https://x.com/SharrenHaskel/status/2099902517551260077) (Social post, Hebrew, published 2026-09-15) - S9: [Sharren Haskel on X, on economic policy toward countries that sanction Israel](https://x.com/SharrenHaskel/status/2097313549018153440) (Social post, Hebrew, published 2026-09-08) - S10: [Sharren Haskel on X, announcing that Aleh Yarok joins Israel First](https://x.com/SharrenHaskel/status/2095578442897203527) (Social post, Hebrew, published 2026-09-03)