This list wants to cut VAT from 18 percent to 12 percent, and it wants anyone who skips military or civilian service to lose the right to vote.112 Those two ideas come from two different parties that are now running on one ballot slip.
Who is The Reservists and the Economic Party?
The list is called "The Reservists and the Economic Party, led by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha," ballot letters Dalet Yud, and it's a joint run of Hendel's Reservists party and Zelekha's New Economic Party.12634
What has The Reservists and the Economic Party published?
Here's the first thing to know. I couldn't find a joint platform for this list.10 What exists is two separate platforms, one on each party's own website.211
The Reservists' site has a platform page, a ten-page draft plan as a PDF, a ten-point plan on crime and governance, and a plan for soldiers with PTSD.2468 The Economic Party's site has a platform page with about twenty chapters, from taxes to animal welfare, and a Russian translation.1133 The list's own landing page has a slogan and a sign-up form.10 Zelekha's official Telegram channel has also posted policy under the joint name.2728
So as I go through the topics, I'll tell you which of the two parties wrote each position. One more note: the Economic Party's pages aren't dated, and a few chapters still mention things like COVID or a 2019 report, so parts of that text are older.1418
The Reservists and the Economic Party'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 Reservists and the Economic Party say about security and foreign policy?
The Reservists' platform calls for an "aggressive" security policy that moves from "containment" to initiative and offense, and says they'll act to prevent a Palestinian state.2
On Gaza, it lists full Israeli control of the perimeter, the high ridges, and the Philadelphi corridor, plus freedom of action, on what it calls the West Bank model, for arrests, destroying infrastructure, and stopping terror attacks.2 It says land in the perimeter, up to what it calls the yellow line, would be farmed by the Gaza border communities.2 And it proposes a directorate for what it calls "voluntary emigration," to let Gaza residents who want to leave move to other countries.2
On Iran, the platform says Operation Rising Lion left Iran with offensive capabilities and "the mission is not finished."2 On Lebanon, it says that if Hezbollah isn't disarmed under the agreement, a campaign "will be opened" to disarm it and take the controlling ridges in Lebanon.2
In the West Bank, the Reservists use the phrase "sovereignty through deeds": more settlement, and making the Jordan Valley a national settlement goal.2
The Economic Party's security chapter says it will oppose any withdrawal "even the smallest" and oppose a Palestinian state.12 It says any arrangement in Gaza must first end what it calls incitement in Gaza's schools.12 And it wants to cancel entry permits for Palestinian workers from the West Bank entirely, and bring in more foreign workers instead.12
I couldn't find a published position from either party on relations with the United States.
What does The Reservists and the Economic Party say about accountability for October 7?
The Reservists list a commission of inquiry as one of three conditions for joining any government.3 Their platform page words it like this: "The word 'state' has become an excuse not to investigate. It's time to investigate."2 Their Q&A page, though, says the condition is "a state commission of inquiry into the failures of October 7."3 So you'll see both phrasings on their site.
I couldn't find a published position from the Economic Party on a commission of inquiry.
What does The Reservists and the Economic Party say about the economy and the cost of living?
This is the Economic Party's core. Their platform says VAT goes from 18 percent to 17 in the first year, then down one point a year to 12 percent.11 The top income tax rate, including National Insurance and health tax, would drop from 50 to 40 percent over five years, and the combined corporate and dividend tax would do the same.11 They say this is paid for mainly by canceling subsidies and tax benefits for "tycoons" and big companies, and by making the state budget more efficient.11
On prices, they want to cancel all customs duties and import quotas on food, dismantle the agricultural production boards "from the Dairy Board to the Honey Board," and declare every exclusive importer a monopoly.11 They want a new private bank, co-funded by the state and managed by a bank from abroad, and they want banks required to pay interest on checking accounts.11
On September 29, Zelekha's Telegram channel posted that they'll permanently cut fuel excise and indirect taxes, and called it a "threshold condition."28 A September 17 post presented an insurance plan "together with the Reservists": new insurance companies, a ban on sending drivers only to the insurer's "arrangement garages," and no fines for choosing another garage.27
The Reservists' platform has its own economic section: big tax breaks for tech companies that employ about 70 percent of their staff in the Negev, the Galilee, or the Jordan Valley, and three measurable reforms a year reported to the Knesset.2 It also says budgets should move "from the draft-evading public to the serving public."2
What every party says about the economy and the cost of living
What does The Reservists and the Economic Party say about housing?
The Economic Party's goal is to bring an average apartment down from almost 170 average monthly salaries to about 120, by speeding up growth so investors put money elsewhere.11 They also want to transfer ownership of public housing apartments to the roughly 60,000 families who live in them.13
The Reservists tie housing to service: service becomes a main criterion for mortgage discounts and the subsidized housing lottery, and reservists get land in national priority areas.2
What does The Reservists and the Economic Party say about religion and state?
The draft is the Reservists' central issue. Their platform says every citizen, "secular and religious, Jews and Arabs," serves at 18, in the military or in civilian service.2 Their plan treats not enlisting as "desertion," and says the only exemption would be medical.4 The listed sanctions for those who don't serve include losing the right to vote and to run for office, losing tax discounts and benefit payments, losing a driver's license, and a ban on leaving the country.2 Their slogan is "whoever gives, gets; whoever doesn't, doesn't."9
The plan also proposes separate Haredi units, and seven yeshivas along the borders where 700 top Torah students would serve by studying, with basic guard duty.4
The Economic Party also wants Haredim drafted the same way as everyone else, with exemptions capped at 2,000 yeshiva students and no state support for institutions where people who don't enlist study.12 Separately, they want to privatize kashrut supervision so any ordained rabbi can certify food, and they back state Haredi schools.1116 Their women's chapter calls for ending gender-segregated public events and for solutions for women refused a religious divorce.22
What does The Reservists and the Economic Party say about the judiciary and governance?
The Reservists want judicial changes "under broad agreement," including independent outside oversight of the courts, splitting the attorney general's role, and a Basic Law on legislation that resets the relations between the branches of government.2 They also want an eight-year, or two-term, limit for prime minister.2
Another of their conditions for joining a government is a "Zionist government," which their platform says means not relying on Haredi or Arab parties.2
The Economic Party's site carries Zelekha's 2023 statement to a Knesset committee.25 He proposed that the Supreme Court could strike a law only with a full panel and a larger majority than the Knesset vote, and the Knesset could re-pass it with at least 61 votes and a larger majority again.25 He also opposed giving the government full control of judicial appointments.25
What does The Reservists and the Economic Party say about education?
The Economic Party wants fewer teaching hours with classes of 18 students, more autonomy for principals, and mandatory financial education starting in elementary school.14 The Reservists' platform says education budgets go only to institutions that take part in service.2
What does The Reservists and the Economic Party say about health?
The Economic Party wants national health spending raised to 8 percent of GDP, three new hospitals in the north and south, and a new medical school.15
The Reservists published a plan for soldiers with PTSD.8 It calls for a fund of about one billion shekels a year, set by law outside the base budget so it can't be cut, a national emergency directorate for post-trauma, and a mentor assigned to each soldier who asks for help.8 Zelekha's channel said IDF wounded would be "the first thing" they'd handle at the Finance Ministry.31
What does The Reservists and the Economic Party say about social welfare, pensions and the elderly?
The Economic Party wants higher old-age allowances, especially for elderly people below the poverty line, and more funding for people with disabilities.13 On pensions, they want banks back in pension management and a cap on any one company's market share.21
The Reservists' welfare items are about service: tax credits for reservists, and compensation for employers of anyone who does more than 15 reserve days a year.2
What every party says about social welfare, pensions and the elderly
What does The Reservists and the Economic Party say about Arab citizens and minorities?
The Reservists say the same service duty and the same sanctions apply to Arab citizens, with new national service tracks.42 Their ten-point governance plan describes crime in Arab communities as an "eighth front."6 It proposes local police forces under mayors, a Shin Bet division to fight crime in Arab communities, and minimum sentences for shootings and illegal weapons.67 One heading in the same plan reads "restoring the Judaization of the Negev and the Galilee," and under it the plan calls Jewish settlement and a Jewish majority in those areas a priority national mission, alongside new Druze communities.6
The Economic Party's one item here is training to bring more Arab citizens, Haredim, and women into high tech.23
What does The Reservists and the Economic Party say about immigration, absorption and the diaspora?
The Economic Party calls aliyah a first-rank Zionist value and proposes fast recognition of foreign professional licenses and a larger absorption basket.11 The Reservists' draft plan exempts immigrants who arrive after age 24.4 I couldn't find a published position from either party on diaspora relations.
What every party says about immigration, absorption and the diaspora
What does The Reservists and the Economic Party say about the environment, energy and transportation?
The Economic Party has a full environment chapter: renewable electricity at 30 percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050, a 10 billion shekel climate fund, closing the Haifa Bay refineries, and support for a bill to phase out live animal shipments over three years.17 On transport, they want a cabinet for transportation run by the finance minister.18
I couldn't find a published position from the Reservists on energy, climate, or transport.
What every party says about the environment, energy and transportation
What The Reservists and the Economic Party puts front and center
On their websites, the Reservists lead with eight principles, three of them conditions for joining a government: a Zionist unity government, a draft law for everyone, and a commission of inquiry.39 The Economic Party leads with the cost of living and monopolies.11 A September 30 post from Zelekha's channel puts the two together: "We came to lower the cost of living and to take care of a draft for everyone."32
What The Reservists and the Economic Party hasn't published
There's no joint platform for the list, so no document says which of these positions both parties have agreed to. I couldn't find anything from either party on relations with the United States or on the diaspora. I found no position from the Economic Party on an October 7 commission, and none from the Reservists on energy, transport, or pensions.
Sources
Everything above comes from what The Reservists and the Economic Party 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
This list wants to cut VAT from 18% to 12%, and it wants anyone who skips military or civilian service to lose the right to vote. Those two ideas come from two different parties that are now running on one ballot slip. 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 as 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 list is called The Reservist and the Economic Party, led by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron
Who they are
Zalecha, Ballot Letters Dalit Yud, and it's a joint run of Hendel's Reservist Party and Zalecha's New Economic Party. Here's the first thing to know. I couldn't find a joint platform for this list. What exists is two separate platforms, one
What they've published
on each party's own website. The Reservist site has a platform page, a 10-page draft plan as a PDF, a 10-point plan on crime and governance, and a plan for soldiers with PTSD. The Economic Party site has a platform page with about 20 chapters from taxes to animal welfare and a Russian translation. The list's own landing page has a slogan and a sign-up form. Zalecha's official Telegram channel has also posted policy under the joint name. So as I go through the topics, I'll tell you which of the two parties wrote each position. One more note, the Economic Party's pages, some are a bit dated, and a few chapters still mention things like COVID or a 2019 report. So parts of that text are also older. The Reservist platform calls for an aggressive security policy that moves, quote, On Gaza, it lists full Israeli
Security and foreign policy
control of the perimeter, the high ridges, and the Philadelphia corridor, plus freedom of action on what it calls the West Bank model, for areas for arrests, for destroying infrastructure, and stopping terror attacks. It says land in the perimeter up to what it calls the Yellow Line would be farmed by the Gaza border communities, and it proposes a directorate for what it calls a voluntary emigration to let Gaza residents who want to leave move to other countries. On Iran, the platform says Operation Rising Lion left Iran with offensive capabilities, and the mission is not finished. That's a quote. On Lebanon, it says that if Hezbollah is not disarmed under the agreement, a campaign will be opened to disarm it and take the high ridges of Lebanon.
In the West Bank, the Reservists use the phrase sovereignty through deeds, more settlement, and making the Jordan Valley a national settlement goal. The Economic Party Security Chapter says it will oppose any withdrawal, quote, even the smallest, and oppose a Palestinian state. It says any arrangement in Gaza must first end what it calls incitement in Gaza schools, and it wants to cancel entry permits for Palestinian workers from the West Bank entirely, and bring in more foreign workers instead. I could not find a published position from either party on relations with the United States. The Reservists list a commission of inquiry as one of their three conditions for joining any government.
October 7 accountability
Their platform page words it like this, quote, The word state has become an excuse not to investigate. It's time to investigate. Their Q&A page, though, says the condition is a state commission of inquiry into the failures of October 7th, so you'll see both phrasings on their site. I couldn't find a published position from the Economic Party on a commission of inquiry on October 7th. The Economic Ideas is the core, are the core, of the Economic Party's platform. Their platform says VAT goes from 18% to 17%
Economy and cost of living
in the first year, then down 1 point a year to 12%. The top income tax rate, including national insurance and health tax, would drop from 50% to 40% over five years, and the combined corporate and dividend tax would do the same. They say this is paid for mainly by canceling subsidies and tax benefits for tycoons and big companies, and by making the state budget more efficient. On prices, they want to cancel all customs duties and import quotas on food, dismantle the agricultural production boards from, quote, the dairy board to the honey board, and declare every exclusive importer a monopoly. They want a new private bank co-funded by the state and managed by a bank from abroad, and they want banks required to pay interest on checking accounts. On the 29th of September, Zelekha's Telegram channel posted that they'll permanently cut fuel excise and indirect taxes, and called it a threshold condition.
A September 17th post presented an insurance plan together with the reservists, new insurance companies, a ban on sending drivers only to the insurers' arrangement garages, and no fines for choosing another garage. The reservists' platform has its own economic section. Big tax breaks for tech companies that employ about 70% of their staff in the Negev, in the Galilee, or in the Jordan Valley. And three measurable reforms a year, reported the Knesset. It also says budgets should move from, quote, the draft evading public to serve to the serving public, end quote. The Economic Party's goal is to bring an average apartment down from almost 170
Housing
average monthly salaries to about 120, by speeding up growth so investors put their money elsewhere. They also want to transfer ownership of public housing apartments to the roughly 60,000 families who live in them. The reservists tie housing to service. Service becomes a main criterion for mortgage discounts and the subsidized housing lottery. And reservists get land in national priority areas. The draft, as you can imagine, is the reservists' central issue.
Religion and state
Their platform says every citizen, quote, unquote, secular and religious, Jews and Arabs, serve at 18 years of age, in the military or in civilian service. Their plan treats not enlisting as, quote, desertion, and says the only exemption would be medical. The listed sanctions for those who don't serve include losing the right to vote and to run for office, losing tax discounts and benefit payments, losing a driver's license, and a ban on leaving the country. Their slogan is, quote, The plan also proposes separate Haredi units and seven yeshivas along the borders, where 700 top Torah students would serve by studying with basic guard duty.
The Economic Party also wants Haredim drafted the same way as everyone else, with exemptions capped at 2,000 yeshiva students, and no state support for institutions where people who don't enlist study. Separately, they want to privatize Kashrut's provision so any ordained rabbi can certify food, and they back state Haredi schools. Their women's chapter calls for ending gender-segregated public events and for solutions for women refused a religious divorce. The reservists want judicial changes under, quote, broad agreement, including independent outside oversight of the courts,
Judiciary and governance
splitting the attorney general's role and a basic law on legislation that resets the relations between the branches of government. They also want an eight-year or two-term limit for prime minister. Another of their conditions for joining a government is, quote, a Zionist government, which their platform says means not relying on either Haredi or the Arab parties. The Economic Party site carries Zelekha's 2023 statement to a Knesset committee. He proposed that the Supreme Court could strike a law only with a full panel and a large majority than the Knesset vote, and the Knesset could repass it with at least 61 votes and a large majority again. He also opposed giving the government full control of judicial appointments. The Economic Party wants fewer teaching hours with classes of 18 students, more autonomy for principals, and mandatory
Education
financial education, starting in elementary school. The Reservist platform says education budgets go only to institutions that take part in service. The Economic Party wants national health spending raised to 8% of GDP,
Health
three new hospitals in the north and the south, and a new medical school. The Reservist publish a plan for soldiers with PTSD. It calls for a fund of about 1 billion shekels a year, set by law outside the base budget so it can't be cut, a national emergency directorate for post-trauma, and a mentor assigned to each soldier who asks for help. Zelekha's channel said IDF wounded would be the first thing they'd handle, the finance ministry. The Economic Party wants higher old-age allowances, especially for elderly people below the
Social welfare, pensions, and the elderly
poverty line, and more funding for people with disabilities. On pensions, they want banks back in pension management, and a cap on any one company's market share. The Reservist welfare items are all about and related to service, tax credits for Reservists, and compensation for employers of anyone who does more than 15 reserve days a year. The Reservists say the same service duty and the same sanctions for desertion apply to
Arab citizens and minorities
Arab citizens, with new national service tracts. Their 10-point governance plan describes crime in Arab communities as a quote, eighth front. It proposes local police forces under mayors, a Shin Bet division to fight crime in Arab communities, and minimum sentences for shootings and illegal weapons. One heading in the same plan reads, restoring the Judaization of the Negev and the Galilee, and under the plan calls for Jewish settlements and a Jewish majority in those areas, a priority national mission alongside new Druze communities. The Economic Party's one item here is training to bring more Arab citizens, Haredim, and women into high tech. The Economic Party calls Aliyah, a first-ranked Zionist value, and proposes
Immigration, absorption, and diaspora
fast recognition of foreign professional licenses and larger absorption basket. The Reservist draft plan exempts immigrants who arrive after age 24. I couldn't find a published position from either party on diaspora relations. The Economic Party has a full environment chapter, renewable electricity at 30% by
Environment, energy, and transportation
2030 and 100% by 2050, a 10 billion shekel climate fund closing the Haifa Bay refineries, and support for a bill to phase out live annual shipments over three years. On transport, they want a cabinet for transportation run by the finance minister. I couldn't find a published position from the Reservist on energy, climate, or transport. On their websites, the Reservists lead with eight principles, three of them being conditions for joining a
What they put front and center
government, a Zionist unity government, a draft law for everyone, and a commission of inquiry into October 7th. The Economic Party leads with the cost of living and monopolies. A September 30th post from Zalecha's channel puts the two together. Quote, We came to lower the cost of living and to take care of a draft for everyone. End quote. There's no joint platform for the list, so no document says which of these platforms both parties have agreed to.
What's missing
I couldn't find anything from either party on relations with the United States or on the diaspora. I found no position from the Economic Party on an October 7th commission. And none from the Reservists on energy, on transport, or on pensions. That's what the Reservists and the Economic Party have 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. If they publish more before October 27th, I'll pin an update in the comments. Next is list number 17, the Democrats, and the full playlist.
