Shema: what they've published

Intro

0:00Shema's platform says states' support for homosexuality should be made illegal, and that people who cheat on their spouses should be punished. That platform is still on their website, but it was written for earlier elections, and they haven't published anything new for this one. 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

0:22English-speaking voters ahead of the October 27th election. One party per episode. I only use the party itself as made public, their platform, their websites, 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. Shema is on the ballot as the letters Nun Fe, led by Naftali Goldman, who is the only

Who they are

0:47candidate on its list. Shema has a website, eomzone.com, with a platform page and a separate page for each proposed law. None of it mentions this election. The economic section adopts the 2020 budget. The English page has headed the current situation in Israel 2022. And the same text was filed as a 24-page platform for the 2022 election. The blog's last post is from October 2020. So everything in this episode is the party's standing platform from past elections. And it's still the platform they point to for this election. The platform says Arabs must recognize the Jewish people's right to Israel, calls for

Security and foreign policy

1:28zero tolerance towards terror with strong sanctions, and says Shema does not support a two-state solution. On foreign policy, it says it will build dialogue with all nations and business ties with allies. I couldn't find a published position on Iran, Lebanon, or the United States. I couldn't find a published position on October 7th Accountability. The platform was written before October 7th.

October 7, Economy

1:52The platform says it does not plan to change economic policy much and would adopt a 2020 budget of 479 billion shekels. To pay for its programs reposes moving army bases out of city centers like Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, and Jerusalem, selling or leasing that land to developers, and building, quote, hundreds of thousands of apartments on it, end quote. It also lists money from the Leviathan gas field. Young Israelis, under 35, who finish full military or national service, complete the

Housing

2:24free study track they choose, and then marry, would be offered an apartment in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, or Bnei Brak, at a much lower price, with a down payment of no more than 10%. They could not sell it or rent it out for 15 years. On military service, the platform calls for conscripting all Jewish men, with no exemption of any religious group.

Religion and state

2:46The army would have a second branch, a, quote, spiritual combat unit, where soldiers study and pray on closed bases, with no phones, no internet, and no women, under yeshiva heads as commanders. The platform says state support for homosexuality would be made illegal, the pride parade would be banned, and same-sex marriage and, quote, promotion of the LGBT community, end quote, would be illegal. It describes a first aid that calls, quote, re-education, with counseling and no enforcement. A, quote, sanctity of marriage law, would punish a husband or wife who cheats. The platform says the procedures would be set later, rules out fines and prison, and gives public shaming, as an example, with the offender wearing a sign outside his parents' house.

3:39It also calls for censoring online pornography for anyone 18 and under, and for a minister for Jewish unity with a budget. The platform would remove the Supreme Court's power to overturn Knesset decisions. If the court finds a problem with the law,

Judiciary and governance

3:54the law would go back to the government for a vote, and that vote would be binding. I couldn't find a position on the attorney general or the electoral system. Free university or career training for everyone who completes full military or national service.

Education

4:09And state help afterward to open a business in international trade. I could not find a position on the school system. The platform calls for substantially raising the budget for the state medicines basket

Health, Welfare

4:22without giving a number. It says the sick, the orphans, the widows, and the elderly should receive a, quote, full cost of living. End quote. It doesn't give an amount. I couldn't find a published position on Arab citizens of Israel. The only mention of Arabs is the conflict

Arab citizens and minorities

4:43position I covered earlier. The platform proposes an online network connecting Jews around the world, supervised

Immigration, absorption, and diaspora

4:53to, quote, ensure kosher use, end quote, and a ministerial committee to connect Jews in Israel and abroad. I couldn't find a position on Aliyah or on absorption. I couldn't find a published position on things like the environment, energy, or on transportation.

Environment, Front and center

5:16The homepage frames everything around three problems it sees in Israeli society as of its writing. Three things. One, that it's immoral. Two, that it's cruel. And three, that it is disunited. The laws on homosexuality, marriage, and pornography come first in the platform. Shema has not published anything for this election. In the older platform, I couldn't find

What's missing

5:47positions on October 7th. On Arab citizens. The environment. On energy. Or on transportation. That's what Shema has put into 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'll pin an update in the comments, and I'll do my best to do so. Next is list number 14. Otzma Yehudit. And the full playlist is linked below.