Noam's website says a new teacher in Israel should earn no less than 12,000 shekels, and no class should have more than 22 students.12
Who is Noam L'Yisrael?
This is Noam, running this time as Noam L'Yisrael, "Noam for Israel." On the ballot slip the full name is "Noam for Israel, for the Future of the Children, led by Avi Maoz," and the letters are nun yud.9 It is running on its own, led by Avi Maoz, who is currently a member of Knesset.13
What has Noam L'Yisrael published?
There is no full platform document. I looked for a מצע, a platform PDF, and I didn't find one.13
What they do have is a new campaign website, noamlisrael.org.il. The home page has three short platform blocks: the justice system, education, and Jewish identity.1 There is a separate education reform page, posted at the end of August.2 And there is a page for activists with a Q and A and a list they call "8 points to think about."3 That page also says a fuller education reform is still being finalized and will be launched.3 On October 8 the party added a page addressed to Chabad voters, which isn't linked from the site menu.10
I also used one on-the-record interview Maoz gave to the Srugim news site on September 2, and I'll say so when I quote it.6 The party's slogan is "Free to be Jewish."1
Noam L'Yisrael'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 Noam L'Yisrael say about security and foreign policy?
I couldn't find a published position on Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, a Palestinian state, or relations with the US. One of the 8 points asks who will deal with the fact that, in the party's words, the IDF's values are missing "the value of victory," and says that is why wars are not decided.3 No specific measure comes with it.
What does Noam L'Yisrael say about accountability for October 7?
On a state commission of inquiry or on October 7 accountability, I found nothing published.
What does Noam L'Yisrael say about the economy and the cost of living?
I found no position on the economy or the cost of living, outside of education spending, which I'll get to.
What every party says about the economy and the cost of living
What does Noam L'Yisrael say about housing?
Nothing on housing either.
What does Noam L'Yisrael say about religion and state?
The home page lists these under Jewish identity. Keep Shabbat as a day of rest in public space, and protect businesses and workers who keep Shabbat.1 Advance legislation "from a Jewish perspective" on kashrut, conversion, Jewish law, and family values.1 Strengthen the Chief Rabbinate and "regulate the status" of the Western Wall.1
The activist page adds that the party will fight attempts to set up a Reform prayer plaza at the Western Wall.3
On Haredi military service, the Chabad page says Noam L'Yisrael "opposes the forced conscription of yeshiva students," and supports service conditions adapted for Haredim who choose to enlist on their rabbis' instruction, in a way that lets them keep their way of life.10
In the Srugim interview on September 2, Maoz said, "Torah study is no less important than army service," and that "someone who truly studies Torah should receive all the rights that anyone else receives."6
What does Noam L'Yisrael say about the judiciary and governance?
This block on the home page is titled "Splitting and shrinking the justice system."1 It lists four items. Return governing power to the elected Knesset and government, "not to officials and not to judges."1 Pass an override clause that would limit the High Court's ability to strike down Knesset decisions.1 Split the attorney general's job, so the attorney general is an adviser only and not, in their words, someone who imposes "a serial veto" on government decisions.1 And allow what they call trust appointments, so ministers can carry out their policies.1
I couldn't find a published position on how judges are selected.
What does Noam L'Yisrael say about education?
This is where most of the material is. Maoz's X bio says he wants to be the next education minister.5
On teachers: a minimum salary of 12,000 shekels for a starting teacher, better employment terms, and a big increase in pay.12 On class size: split classes so there are no more than 22 students in a class.2
On parents: abolish school registration zones, free choice of school, and give parents a veto over content.12 In the Srugim interview on September 2, Maoz put it this way: "Is there a school that wants to teach progressivism? Let it teach progressivism. The parents will decide whether to send their children to it."6
On funding: equal funding for every child, and, quoting the page, "no more using the budget sword to impose content and agendas."2
On curriculum: more Judaism and heritage studies, "without coercion."2 Make Bible and Judaism part of the core curriculum.3 Transparency in curricula, and remove what they call "foreign NGOs" and curricula funded by foreign foundations and governments from schools.13
On special education: full accessibility of schools and materials, an updated special education reform, and transportation or travel refunds for every special education student.2 And on school buildings: a dedicated fast-track planning committee for school construction.2
What does Noam L'Yisrael say about health?
I couldn't find a published position on health.
What does Noam L'Yisrael say about social welfare, pensions and the elderly?
On welfare, pensions, or the elderly, I found nothing published.
What every party says about social welfare, pensions and the elderly
What does Noam L'Yisrael say about Arab citizens and minorities?
One item on the activist page: end programs that bring Arab teachers into Israel's state schools.3 I couldn't find anything else.
What does Noam L'Yisrael say about immigration, absorption and the diaspora?
I couldn't find a published position on immigration, absorption, or the diaspora.
What every party says about immigration, absorption and the diaspora
What does Noam L'Yisrael say about the environment, energy and transportation?
On the environment, energy, or transportation, apart from the special education transportation I mentioned, I found nothing published.
What every party says about the environment, energy and transportation
What Noam L'Yisrael puts front and center
Jewish identity and education. The website says the party was founded in 2019 to "lead the campaign for the Jewish identity of the state" and to fight what it calls "consciousness engineering."1 That phrase comes up across their material.
The activist page also asks who will stop what it calls content of "assimilation and anti-Judaism" on publicly funded radio and TV.3 And it says Noam L'Yisrael is the only party on the right that commits to what it calls "real reform in education and Jewish identity."3
What Noam L'Yisrael hasn't published
Noam hasn't published concrete security measures, or positions on October 7, the economy outside of education, housing, health, welfare, immigration, or the environment. Most of what it has published is about schools, the courts, and religion in public life.
Sources
Everything above comes from what Noam L'Yisrael 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
Noam's website says a new teacher in Israel should earn no less than 12,000 shekels, and no class should have more than 22 students. This is Close Read, and this is a series about what Israel's parties are promising to do in their own published words for 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. This is Noam, running this time as Noam Le-Yisrael, Noam for Israel. On the ballot slip, the full name is Noam
Who they are
for Israel, for the future of the children, led by Avi Maoz, and the letters are Nun Yud. It is writing on its own, led by Avi Maoz, who is currently a member of the Knesset. There is no full platform document. I looked for a platform, a PDF, anything, and I didn't find one.
What they've published
What they do have is a new campaign website, noamleisrael.org.il. The homepage has three short platform blocks, the justice system, education, and Jewish identity. There is a separate education reform page posted at the end of August, and there is a page for activists with a Q&A and a list they call, quote, eight points to think about. That page also says a fuller education reform is still being finalized and will be launched. On October 8th, the party added a page addressed to Chabad voters, which is not linked directly from the site menu. I also used on-the-record interview Maoz gave to the Surugim news site on September 2nd, and I'll say so when I quote it. The party's slogan is, quote, free to be Jewish, end quote.
I couldn't find a published position on Gaza, on Lebanon, on Iran, a Palestinian
Security and foreign policy
state, or relations with the United States. One of the eight points asks who will deal with the fact that in the party's words, the IDF's values are missing, quote, the value of victory, end quote, and says that is why wars are not decided. No specific measure comes from it. On a state commission of inquiry, on October 7th accountability, I found nothing published.
October 7, Economy: no stated position
I found no position on the economy or the cost of living outside of the topic of education spending, which I will get to. There's nothing on housing either. The homepage lists the topics of religion and state under Jewish identity.
Housing
Keep Shabbat as a day of rest in public space and protect businesses and workers who keep Shabbat. Advance legislation from a, quote, Jewish perspective on kashrut, conversion, Jewish law, and family values. Strengthen the chief rabbinate and regulate the status of the Western Wall. The activist page adds that the party will fight attempts to set up a reform prayer plaza at the Western Wall. On Haredi military service, the Chabad page says, Noam Lisrael, quote, opposes the forced conscription of yeshiva students, end quote, and supports service conditions adapted for Haredim who choose to enlist on their rabbi's instructions in a way that lets them keep their way of life. In the Surugim interview on September 2nd, Maoz said, quote, Torah study is no less important than army service and that, quote, someone who truly studies Torah should receive all the rights that anyone else receives, end quote.
This block on the homepage is titled Splitting and Shrinking the Justice System. It lists four items.
Judiciary and governance
Return governing power to the elected Knesset in government, not to officials and not to judges. Pass an override clause that would limit the high court's ability to strike down Knesset decisions. Split the attorney general's job so the attorney general is an advisor only, and not, in their words, someone who imposes a, quote, serial veto on government decisions. And allow what they call trust appointments, so ministers can carry out their policies. I couldn't find a published position on how judges are selected.
Health
Now, this is on the topic of education, and most of the material is. Maoz's ex-bio says he wants to be the next education minister. On teachers, a minimum salary of 12,000 shekels for a starting teacher, better employment terms, and a big increase in pay. On class size, split classes so there are no more than 22 students in a class. On parents, abolish school registration zones, free choice of school, and give parents a veto over content. In the Surugim interview on September 2nd, Maoz put it this way, quote, Is there a school that wants to teach progressivism? Let it teach progressivism. The parents will decide whether to send their children to it, end quote. On funding, equal funding for every child, and quoting the page, quote, No more using the budget sword to impose content and agendas, end quote.
On the topic of curriculum, more Judaism and heritage studies, quote, without coercion. Make Bible and Judaism part of the core curriculum. Transparency in curricula, and remove what they call, quote, foreign NGOs, end quote. And curricula funded by foreign foundations and governments from schools. On special education, full accessibility of schools and materials. An updated special education reform and transportation or travel refunds for every special education student. And on school buildings, a dedicated fast-track planning committee for school construction. I couldn't find a stated position on the topic of health. On welfare, pensions, or the elderly, I found nothing published. A one item on the activist page.
Welfare, Arab citizens
And programs that bring Arab teachers into Israel state schools. I couldn't find anything else. I couldn't find a published position on immigration, absorption, or the diaspora.
Immigration, Environment: no stated position
On the environment, energy, or transportation, apart from the special education transportation I mentioned, I found nothing mentioned. Jewish identity and education takes up a special place. The website says the party was founded in
What they put front and center
2019 to, quote, lead the campaign for the Jewish identity of the state and to fight what it calls consciousness engineering. That phrase comes up across their material. The activist page also asks who will stop what it calls content of assimilation and anti-Judaism on publicly funded radio and TV. And it says Noam Li Yisrael is the only party on the right that commits to what it calls, quote, real reform in education and Jewish identity. Noam has not published concrete security measures or positions on October 7th. The economy outside of education, housing,
What's missing
health, welfare, immigration, or the environment. Most of what it has published is about schools, the courts, and religion in public life. That's what Noam Yisrael has put in writing 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 pin an update in the comments. That's the last list on this ballot. You can find all of the parties and all their platforms on the website on closeread.show. And the full playlist is linked below. The Close Read and its resources continue to be free to watch and to listen. And if you'd like to support it, you'll find me on Patreon at patreon.com slash thecloseread, linked in the description. Thanks for being a part of this journey.
