Betach hasn't published a platform for this election that I could find. The last platform it put out was for the April 2019 election, and it called for cutting VAT on food, electricity and household gas to ten percent.3
Who is Betach?
Betach, which stands for Social Security in the sense of social safety, runs under the ballot letter Zayin, led by Semion Grafman, with three candidates on the list.12
What has Betach published?
For 2026, I couldn't find a platform, a party website, or a policy page. The Israel Democracy Institute's page for this election, which links to party platforms, lists only Betach's candidate list.7
What exists is a three-page Hebrew platform from the party's 2019 run, with twelve numbered items.3 Everything I quote from it in this episode is from 2019, and I'll say so each time. For this election, there are two short statements from Grafman. One is a statement he gave the news site Kipa when he announced the run on August 30.5 The other is from a short interview with Arutz 7 on September 8, right after he submitted the list.6 Neither one is a party publication, and I'll label them that way.
The party's registration with the Registrar of Parties lists broad goals like education, welfare, health, and fighting corruption, but that's a registration form, not an election platform.4
Betach'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 Betach say about security and foreign policy?
For this election, I couldn't find a published position on Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, or the Palestinian question. In an interview with Arutz 7 on September 8, after submitting the list, Grafman said, "Leave me alone with right or left, Bibi or not Bibi," and said fighters coming back from Gaza and Lebanon are the first to fall victim to drug, alcohol and smoking addiction, and "we must take care of them."6
The 2019 platform called for at least doubling soldiers' pay, later bringing it to minimum wage, and moving to a professional army.3
What does Betach say about accountability for October 7?
I couldn't find a published position on October 7 accountability.
What does Betach say about the economy and the cost of living?
This was most of the 2019 platform. It called for canceling most bank fees for households and small businesses, and canceling the interbank interest rate, and said that move alone would save the public about eight billion shekels a year.3 It said a small business shouldn't pay any tax in its first two years, and working families who recently finished their studies and had children shouldn't pay tax for the first three years the parents work in their profession.3 On VAT: ten percent on food, electricity and gas, and twenty-five percent on luxury goods.3 It also proposed a five percent levy on the profits of large corporations, paid as donations to social projects the company chooses.3
What every party says about the economy and the cost of living
What does Betach say about housing?
The 2019 platform proposed a heavy tax on empty apartments, a cap on rent increases, and requiring public pension funds to put ten percent of their money into building rental housing.3 It also called for releasing state land and confiscating Jewish National Fund land to build new neighborhoods.3
What does Betach say about religion and state?
The 2019 platform supported legislation for civil marriage.3 It didn't address the Haredi draft by name. I couldn't find a published position for this election.
What does Betach say about the judiciary and governance?
The 2019 platform wanted every government service moved online, so no one has to show up at an office, and a single window for dealing with the state.3 It also said the party would decide how to vote in the Knesset through regular online polls of its members.3 It called for canceling the natural gas agreement and putting the people responsible for signing it on trial.3 Nothing on the courts or the attorney general.
What does Betach say about education?
I couldn't find a published position on education.
What does Betach say about health?
For this election, the only thing I found is the statement Grafman gave Kipa on August 30, that "it's time for the state to take care of people before they reach the breaking point," and that talk about the day after the war should cover trauma and addiction, not only security.5 That's a statement of focus. I couldn't find a concrete health policy.
What does Betach say about social welfare, pensions and the elderly?
In 2019, the platform proposed the same child allowance for every child regardless of family size, and stopping the National Insurance old-age allowance for people whose pension is above two minimum wages, while raising it for people with low pensions.3
What every party says about social welfare, pensions and the elderly
What does Betach say about Arab citizens and minorities?
On Arab citizens and minorities, the 2019 platform spoke generally about equal rights for all parts of Israeli society.3 No specific policy.
What does Betach 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 Betach say about the environment, energy and transportation?
Only the 2019 gas deal item, which said gas revenue should go directly to things like education and health.3 Nothing on environment or transportation.
What every party says about the environment, energy and transportation
What Betach puts front and center
In 2019, the platform called bureaucracy and corruption "the central problem of the State of Israel."3 In 2026, the one theme in Grafman's two statements is addiction and trauma after the war, especially among fighters coming back from Gaza and Lebanon.56
What Betach hasn't published
For this election, there's no published platform, so every topic is missing in written form: security, October 7, the economy, housing, religion and state, courts, education, health, welfare, Arab citizens, immigration, and the environment. The detailed positions I read are from 2019.
Sources
Everything above comes from what Betach 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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- S7Hebrew
Transcript
The words as spoken in the episode, from its captions. Select a time to listen from there.
Full transcript
Intro
Betach hasn't published a platform for this election that I could find. The last platform it put out was for the April 2019 election, and it called for cutting the VAT on food, electricity, and household gas to 10%. 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 27 election. One party per episode. I only use the party itself as being 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. Betach, which stands for Social Security in the Sense of Social Safety, runs under the ballot letter Zion, led by Semyon Grafman,
Who they are
with three candidates on the list. For 2026, I could not find a platform, a party website, or a policy page. The Israel Democracy Institute's page for
What they've published
this election, which links to party platforms, lists only Betach's candidate list. What exists is a three-page Hebrew platform from the party's 2019 run, with 12 numbered items. Everything I quote from it in this episode is from 2019, and I'll say so. For this election, there are two short statements from Grafman. One is a statement he gave the news site Kippa when he announced the run on August 30th. The other is from a short interview with Arutz Sheva on September 8th, right after he submitted the list. Neither one is a party publication, and I will mention them that way. The party's registration with the Registrar of Parties lists broad goals like education, welfare, health, and fighting corruption. But that's a registration form. It's not an election platform.
For this election, I could not find a published position on Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, or the Palestinian question.
Security and foreign policy
In an interview with Arutz Sheva on September 8th, after submitting the list, Grafman said, quote, leave me alone with right or left, Bibi or not Bibi, end quote, and said fighters coming back from Gaza and Lebanon are the first to fall victim to drug, alcohol, and smoking addiction, and, quote, we must take care of them. The 2019 platform called for at least doubling soldiers' pay, later bringing it to minimum wage and moving to a professional army. I could not find a published position on October 7th accountability. This was most of the 2019 platform when it
October 7, Economy
talked about economy. It called for canceling most bank fees for households and small businesses and canceling the interbank interest rate, and said that move alone would save the public about 8 billion shekels a year. It said a small business shouldn't pay any tax in its first two years, and working families who recently finished their studies and had children shouldn't pay tax for the first three years the parents work in their profession. On the VAT, on the VAT, 10% on food, electricity, and gas, and 25% on luxury goods. It also opposed a 5% levy on the profits of large corporations, paid as donations to social projects the company chooses. The 2019 platform proposed a heavy tax on empty apartments, a cap on rent increases,
Housing
and requiring public pension funds to put 10% of their money into building rental housing. It also called for releasing state land and confiscating Jewish national fund land to build new neighborhoods. The 2019 platform supported legislation for civil marriage. It didn't address the Haredi draft by name.
Religion and state
I could not find a published position on that topic for this election. The 2019 platform wanted every government service moved online, so no one has to show
Judiciary and governance
up at an office, and a single window for dealing with the state. It also said the party would decide how to vote in the Knesset through regular online polls of its members. It called for canceling the natural gas agreement and putting the people responsible for signing it on trial. Nothing on the topic of courts or the Attorney General. And I couldn't find a published position on education. For this election specifically, the only
Education, Health
thing I found is the statement Grafman gave Kippa on August 30th, that, quote, it's time for the state to take care of people before they reach the breaking point, end quote, and that talk about the day after the war should cover trauma and addiction, not only security. That's a statement of focus, but I couldn't find a concrete health policy. In 2019, the platform proposed the same child allowance for every child, regardless of family size, and stopping the national
Social welfare, pensions, and the elderly
insurance old age allowance for people whose pension is above two minimum wages, while raising it for people with low pensions. On Arab citizens and minorities, the 2019 platform spoke generally about equal rights
Arab citizens, Immigration
for all parts of Israeli society, but no specific policy. I couldn't find a published position on immigration, absorption, or the diaspora. Only the 2019 gas deal item, which said gas revenue should go directly to things like education and health.
Environment, energy, and transportation
There was nothing else specific on the environment or on the topic of transportation. In 2019, the platform called bureaucracy and corruption, quote, the central problem of
What they put front and center
the state of Israel. In 2026, the one theme in Grafman's two statements is addiction and trauma after the war, especially among fighters coming back from Gaza and Lebanon. For this election, there's no published platform, so every topic is missing in written form. Security, October 7th, the economy, housing,
What's missing
religion and state, courts, education, health, welfare, Arab citizens, immigration, and the environment. The detailed positions I shared here in this episode are from 2019. That's what Betach 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 October 27th, I'll do my best to pin an update in the comments. Next is list number 26, Orot HaShachar, and the full playlist is linked below. The Close Read is free to watch and free to listen to. And if you'd like to support it, you can find me on Patreon at patreon.com slash thecloseread, linked to in the description.
