The Joint List says it would cap rent at 20 percent of a family's net income and drop the interest on mortgages for first-time buyers.4 That's one line from one of the two plans they've put in writing, and today I'm going through both.
Who is The Joint List?
The Joint List is an alliance of three parties: Hadash, Ta'al, and Balad.13 Its ballot letters are vav, dalet, mem, and it's led by Yousef Jabareen of Hadash.16
One note on the ballot itself. On September 24 the Central Elections Committee decided to bar the list from the election.8 On October 2 the Supreme Court accepted the Joint List's appeal and overturned that decision, so the list is on the ballot.8 News reports say all nine justices on the panel agreed.9 The court also let MK Ofer Cassif, a candidate the committee had voted to bar, stay on the list.8 The same day, Balad's leader, Sami Abu Shehadeh, who was third on the list, withdrew his candidacy.8 Balad is still part of the list.9
What has The Joint List published?
The Joint List has a website in Hebrew, Arabic, English, and Russian.3 Under a menu labeled "platform," it has two documents.45 One is a ten-point economic and social plan.4 The other is a seven-point plan against organized crime.5 The Hebrew and Arabic pages carry the full text in both languages side by side.45 The pages aren't dated, and the economic plan was rewritten in early October, so I'm quoting the current version.4 I couldn't find a general platform, a PDF, or anything on security as its own topic. Hadash, one of the three parties, also lists eight short principles on its own site, and I'll flag those where they come up, labeled as Hadash's and not the whole list's.7
The Joint List'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 The Joint List say about security and foreign policy?
The first item in the economic plan is titled "Investing in life, not in wars."4 It calls for a deep cut in military spending and an end to funding "the war in Gaza, the settlements, and the occupation of the Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese territories."4 It puts war spending at 400 to 500 billion shekels a year and says the cut would free that money for social services, education, and health.4 It doesn't give a target for how big the cut would be.
The same plan says the interests of Israeli workers and industry come before those of multinational corporations, the United States, the IMF, and the World Bank.4 It also calls for tariffs on the United States like the ones the United States put on Israel.4
Beyond the spending line, the list hasn't published a position on Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, or a Palestinian state. Hadash's own site lists "a just, comprehensive, and stable Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace" as a principle.7
What does The Joint List say about accountability for October 7?
I couldn't find a published position on October 7 accountability.
What does The Joint List say about the economy and the cost of living?
This is where the plan is most specific. The minimum wage would go up and be pegged at no less than 70 percent of the average wage, which the plan says would put it at 56 shekels an hour or more today.4 Wages would also be adjusted in full for inflation, starting from the first percent of price increases.4 Under a heading written in English, "Tax The Rich," the plan says they'll support a tax reform that makes big companies and the owners of capital pay, in its words, "real tax": canceling their tax breaks, and raising the tax on financial gains, including stock market gains, to 30 percent.4 At the same time, they'll support exempting anyone earning up to the average wage from income tax, and cutting VAT to 10 percent.4
They also want to cancel all privatization plans, nationalize companies and services that were already privatized, and abolish the Arrangements Law, the big economic bill that passes alongside every budget.4
What every party says about the economy and the cost of living
What does The Joint List say about housing?
The plan's heading is "Housing is a right."4 It promises public housing, to rent or to buy, for everyone who doesn't have a home, rent control so rent doesn't go over 20 percent of a family's net income, and large-scale building of apartments for rent or discounted purchase by government companies.4 It also wants land set aside for young couples to build on.4 Under the line "a first apartment without interest," it proposes a state mortgage bank and no interest on mortgages for young people and first-time buyers.4
What does The Joint List say about religion and state?
I couldn't find a published position on religion and state.
What does The Joint List say about the judiciary and governance?
There's no separate section. The crime plan says organized crime can't be fought while weakening democracy and the independence of the justice system, and it calls for a professional, independent police and prosecution that can also investigate crime inside government.5 Abolishing the Arrangements Law, which I mentioned, is the one concrete governance change.4 Nothing on judicial selection or the attorney general.
What does The Joint List say about education?
The plan promises free education from age zero through university, including advanced degrees, along with more public day care centers and kindergartens.4 It also wants equal per-pupil budgets across the secular, religious Zionist, Haredi, and Arab school systems.4 No cost or timeline is given. The starting age on this page has changed twice: it said age zero in late September, age three on October 11, and age zero again on October 13.4
What does The Joint List say about health?
On health, the plan would bring back the "parallel tax" employers used to pay toward the health system, at up to 5 percent of an employee's gross wage, to fund better long-term care insurance for everyone.4 Health is also one place the money from military cuts would go.4 I couldn't find anything on hospitals or the health funds.
What does The Joint List say about social welfare, pensions and the elderly?
The plan wants all the money taken out of National Insurance to fund the state budget returned, and a stop to moving its surpluses to the Treasury.4 It would cancel the breaks employers get on National Insurance payments, and cancel cuts to allowances, including child allowance, income support, and unemployment pay.4 And it would raise "the basic allowance," including the old-age allowance, to 25 percent of the average wage.4 There's nothing separate on pensions.
What every party says about social welfare, pensions and the elderly
What does The Joint List say about Arab citizens and minorities?
Most of what they've published is about this. The economic plan calls for equal budgets across all citizens, including between Jewish and Arab towns, carrying out the existing five-year plan for the Arab population, dedicated plans to close the gaps between Arab society and the rest of the country, and recognizing Arab towns as development areas with industrial, tourism, and leisure zones and large government investment.4
The crime plan starts from the premise that organized crime in Arab society is not "a violent culture" but the result of years of neglect, discrimination, and what it calls an "ethnocratic regime."5
Then it gets concrete. A new development plan for Arab society.5 A support system for crime victims, including legal help, mental health support, and compensation.5 A dedicated organized crime unit in the State Attorney's Office, and a new authority against organized crime that brings together the police, the Tax Authority, the anti-money-laundering authority, prosecutors, local councils, and government ministries.5 Wider use of asset forfeiture, and tighter rules on public tenders and subcontracting.5 Budgets and protection for Arab local councils, and more protection for witnesses, whistleblowers, and elected officials threatened by crime groups.5 It also says the state should publish clear metrics so the public can see whether the plan is working.5
The plan's summary says it wants "not a war on Arab society, but a war on organized crime."5
What does The Joint List say about immigration, absorption and the diaspora?
I couldn't find a published position on immigration, absorption, or the diaspora. The site does have a Russian version.3
What every party says about immigration, absorption and the diaspora
What does The Joint List say about the environment, energy and transportation?
Public transportation shows up as one area for investment in Arab towns.4 Hadash's own principles include protecting the environment.7 I couldn't find a Joint List position on energy or climate.
What every party says about the environment, energy and transportation
What The Joint List puts front and center
The site's platform menu has exactly two things on it: the economic plan and the crime plan.45 The home page slogan is "There is another option."3
What The Joint List hasn't published
I couldn't find published positions on October 7 accountability, religion and state, immigration, judicial selection, or energy. On security, what's in writing is the call to cut military spending and stop funding the war in Gaza, the settlements, and the occupation, plus tariffs on the United States, and not much more.
Sources
Everything above comes from what The Joint List 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.
- S1
- S2
- S3
- S4
- S5
- S6
- S7
- S8
- S9
Transcript
The words as spoken in the episode, from its captions. Select a time to listen from there.
Full transcript
Intro
The joint list says it would cap rent at 20% of a family's net income and drop the interest on mortgages for first-time buyers. That's one line from one of the two plans they put in writing, and today we're going to go through both. 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. The joint list is an alliance of three parties, Hadash, Ta'al, and Balad.
Who they are
Its ballot letters are Vav, Dalid, Mem, and it's led by Yusuf Jabarin of Hadash. One note on the ballot itself. On September 24th, the Central Elections Committee decided to bar the list from the election. On October 2nd, the Supreme Court accepted the joint list appeal and overturned that decision. So the list is on the ballot. News reports say all nine justices on the panel agreed. The court also let M.K. Ofer Kassif, a candidate the committee had voted to bar, stay on the list. The same day, Balad's leader, Sami Abu-Shahadeh, who was third on the list, withdrew his candidacy. Balad is still part of the list. The joint list has a website. In Hebrew, Arabic, English, and Russian. Under a menu labeled Platform, it has two documents.
What they've published
One is a 10-point economic and social plan. The other is a 7-point plan against organized crime. The Hebrew and Arabic pages carry the full text in both languages side by side. The pages aren't dated and the economic plan was rewritten in early October. So I'm quoting the current version. I couldn't find a general platform or PDF or anything on security as its own topic. Khadash, one of the three parties, also lists eight short principles on its own site. And I'll flag those where they come up, labeled as Khadash's, and not the whole list. The first item in the economic plan is titled, quote, Investing in life, not in wars, end quote.
Security and foreign policy
It calls for a deep cut in military spending and an end to funding, quote, the war in Gaza, the settlements, and the occupation of the Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese territories, end quote. It puts war spending at 400 to 500 billion shekels a year and says the cut would free that money for social services, education, and health. It doesn't give a target for how big that cut would be. The same plan says the interests of Israeli workers and industry come before those of multinational corporations, the United States, the IMF, and the World Bank. It also calls for tariffs on the United States, like the ones the United States put on Israel. Beyond the spending line, the list has not published a position on Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, or a Palestinian state.
Khadash's own site lists a, quote, quote, just, comprehensive, and stable Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace, end quote, as a principle. I couldn't find a published position on October 7th accountability. Now, this is where the plan gets most
October 7, Economy
specific on the minimum wage and the economy. The minimum wage would go up and be pegged at no less than 70% of the average wage, which the plan says would put it at 56 shekels an hour or more today. Wages would also be adjusted in full for inflation, starting from the first percent of price increases. Under a heading written in English, tax the rich, the plan says they'll support a tax reform that makes big companies and the owners of capital pay, in its words, quote, real tax, canceling their tax breaks and raising the tax on financial gains, including stock market gains to 30%. At the same time, they'll support exempting anyone earning up to the average wage from income tax and cutting that to 10%. They also want to cancel all privatization plans, nationalize companies and services that were already privatized, and abolish the arrangements law, the big economic bill that passes alongside every budget.
The plan's heading is, quote, housing is a right, end quote. It promises public housing, a rent or to
Housing
buy, for everyone who doesn't have a home, rent control so rent doesn't go over 20% of a family's net income, and large-scale building of apartments for rent or discounted purchase by government companies. It also wants land set aside for young couples to build on. Under the line, quote, a first apartment without interest, end quote, it proposes a state mortgage bank and no interest on mortgages for young people and for first-time buyers. I couldn't find a published position on the topic of religion or state. The crime plan is not a separate section, but it does say, where it speaks about it, that organized crime cannot be fought while weakening democracy and the independence of the justice system, and it calls for a professional independent police and prosecution that can also investigate crime inside government.
Abolishing the arrangements law, which I mentioned, is the one concrete governance change. Nothing on judicial selection or on the question of the attorney general. The plan promises free education from age zero to university, including advanced degrees along with more public daycare centers and kindergartens. It also wants equal per-people budgets across the secular, religious Zionists, Haredi, and Arab school systems. No cost or timeline is given. The starting age on this page has changed twice. It stayed age zero in late September, age three on October 11th, and age zero again on October 13th. On health, the plan would bring back the parallel tax employers used to pay towards the health system at up to 5% of an employee's gross wage to fund better long-term care insurance for everyone.
Health is also one place the money from military cuts would go. The plan wants all the money taken out of national insurance to fund the state budget returned and a stop to moving its surpluses to the treasury. It would cancel the breaks employers get on national insurance payments and cancel cuts to allowances, including child allowance, income support, and unemployment pay, and would raise the basic allowance, including the old age allowance, to 25% of the average wage. There's nothing separate on pensions. The economic plan calls for equal budgets across all citizens, including between Jewish and Arab towns, carrying out the existing five-year plan for the Arab population, dedicated plans to close the gaps between Arab society and the rest of the country, and recognizing Arab towns as development areas within industrial, tourism, and leisure zones, and large government investment.
The crime plan starts from the premise that organized crime in Arab society is not a, quote, violent culture, end quote, but the result of years of neglect, discrimination, and what it calls a, quote, ethnocratic regime. Then it gets concrete. A new development plan for Arab society. A support system for crime victims, including legal help. Mental health support and compensation. A dedicated organized crime unit in the state attorney's office. And a new authority against organized crime that brings together the police, the tax authority, the anti-money laundering authority, prosecutors, local councils, and government ministries. Wider use of acid forfeiture and tighter rules on public tenders and subcontracting. Budgets and protection for Arab local councils.
And more protection for witnesses, whistleblowers, and elected officials threatened by crime groups. It also says the state should publish clear metrics so the public can see whether the plan is working. The plan summary says it wants, quote, not a war on Arab society, but a war on organized crime, end quote. I couldn't find a published position on immigration, absorption, or the diaspora.
Religion and state
The site does have a Russian version of its platform. Public transportation shows up as one area for investment in Arab towns. Khadash's own principles include protecting the environment. I couldn't find a joint list position on energy or the climate. The site's platform menu has exactly two things on it. The economic plan and the crime plan. The homepage slogan is, quote, there is another option, end quote. I couldn't find published positions on October 7th accountability, religion and state, immigration, judicial
Immigration, absorption, and diaspora
selection, or energy. On security, what's in writing is the call to cut military spending and stop funding the war in Gaza, the settlements, and the occupation, plus tariffs on the United States. And not much more. That's what the joint list has put in writing as of this recording. Every source I use is linked in the description. Most of them are in Hebrew, so you can read them yourself. I will pin an update. If there's more, I'll do my best to do so before the election on October 27th. Next is list number 36, Hakahal. And the full playlist is linked below. The Close Read is free to watch, and if you'd like to support it, you can find me on Patreon at patreon.com slash theclosedread, linked in the description.
