The Democrats say they'll pay combat reservists about 1,000 shekels for every day of reserve duty, on top of compensation for their lost income, and they put a price on it: about 10 billion shekels a year.87 That's one line from a platform site with 25 topic pages, each with its own PDF.2
Who is The Democrats?
The Democrats, running as "The Democrats led by Yair Golan,"30 on the ballot letters aleph, mem, tav, which spell the Hebrew word for "truth."35 The party is the merger of Labor and Meretz, and it's led by Yair Golan, a retired IDF major general.32
What has The Democrats published?
There's a lot here. On their site there's a 16 page combined platform PDF in Hebrew, dated August 2026.1 There's a separate platform website called "Ma HaMatza," "what's the platform," with 25 topic plans, each with a summary and its own PDF, and some of them were updated in the last week of September.2 Two of those are Russian and Arabic versions of Hebrew plans, on immigration and on organized crime.1619 And there's an older founding document from September 2025, in Hebrew and English, that lays out their principles.2829 I'm using the 2026 plans as the main source, and I'll tell you when I'm quoting the 2025 document.
The Democrats'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 Democrats say about security and foreign policy?
The security plan says they'll lead a regional move together with the United States and what it calls "moderate Arab states," against extremist forces in the region, with Iran at their head.3 Concretely, they say they'll advance normalization with Saudi Arabia and the IMEC trade corridor.3
On the fronts: in Gaza, the plan calls for demilitarizing the Strip, replacing Hamas rule, and building enforcement mechanisms with regional and international help.3 In Lebanon, an international force, a stronger Lebanese army, and Hezbollah and its long-range missiles pushed away from the border, with Israel keeping freedom to act if that's violated.3 In Syria, a security arrangement to stop hostile groups from entrenching and to block weapons going to Hezbollah.3 On Iran, the goal they state is to prevent a nuclear bomb and reduce the ballistic missile threat, through a rebuilt relationship with the US and regional alliances.3
On the West Bank, the plan says they'll stop annexation.3 That means halting new outposts, cutting funding to outposts and farms they say were built illegally, returning authority over the territory to the IDF and the Defense Ministry, and working to repeal what they call "the annexation laws."3 They say they'll evacuate violent outposts and apply "zero tolerance for terror, Jewish and Palestinian alike," and strengthen security coordination with the Palestinian Authority.3
On the Palestinian question itself, the 2026 plan talks about "a responsible diplomatic move" and a "moderate" Palestinian governing alternative, without more detail.3 The 2025 founding document is more specific. It calls for "responsible separation," permanent borders with a solid Jewish majority, a fully demilitarized future Palestinian state, and full Israeli security control of the Jordan Valley.28
On reservists, the target is 21 to 30 reserve days a year, known in advance.87 Combat reservists would get about 1,000 shekels per day of service on top of wage compensation, with a lower scale for other roles, at a cost the plan puts at about 10 billion shekels a year.8
What does The Democrats say about accountability for October 7?
They say they'll set up a state commission of inquiry into October 7 and implement its conclusions in full.3 The plan says those conclusions would guide the defense budget and how the IDF builds its forces.3
What does The Democrats say about the economy and the cost of living?
The economic plan, updated September 30, says they'll cancel what they call sectoral budgets "that encourage not working and not enlisting."5 In their place: raise the minimum wage and the negative income tax, and bring civilian spending toward the OECD average.5 For young families, they say they'll shorten the work week, add vacation and sick days, and push for paternity leave.5 On prices, they name food, medicine and energy cartels, and say they'll bring public transport fares back down and expand the list of price-controlled goods.5
For the north and south, they say they'll guarantee the rehabilitation budgets through 2030 and add at least 15 billion shekels to the multi-year plan for the north.22 I didn't find a general position on income tax rates.5
What every party says about the economy and the cost of living
What does The Democrats say about housing?
Housing sits inside the economic plan, not in its own document.5 It calls for denser urban renewal near transit and jobs, a range of apartment sizes, and a large expansion of long-term rentals and affordable public housing.5 It doesn't give unit numbers or a budget.5
What does The Democrats say about religion and state?
This is a long section. On military service, the plan says everyone is obligated to serve.7 Young people would go through a state screening, IDF needs come first, and anyone not needed by the army does civilian or national service run by the state.7 They also say they'll repeal a law on arresting deserters, and enforce the Security Service Law equally.7
The slogan is "no draft, no money."7 They say they'll end benefits like daycare, after-school and municipal tax discounts for people who haven't settled their status with the army, and cut public money to institutions and rabbis who promote not enlisting.7
Beyond the draft, they say they'll pass a civil marriage law and allow civil divorce, recognize non-Orthodox conversion, and end the Rabbinate's monopoly on kashrut certification.6 They want public transport on Shabbat connecting all cities, with local authorities deciding arrangements inside their own towns.6 And they say they'll stop funding the Haredi party-run school networks and make a state Haredi school system the main track, with a five-year building plan.9
What does The Democrats say about the judiciary and governance?
The democracy plan says they'll repeal all the laws of what they call the "regime coup."4 They name two: the law changing the Judicial Selection Committee, and the law expanding the powers of the religious courts.4
They also say they'll pass term limits: eight years for a prime minister, clear rules for incapacity, and a legal ban on ministers or a prime minister serving under indictment.4 Other items: a Basic Law on Legislation that sets how Basic Laws are passed and how judicial review works, social rights like health, education and housing written into Basic Laws, and amending the Nation-State Law.4 They'd also anchor in law the independence of government legal advisers and the binding status of their opinions.4 For the police, they say they'll amend the Police Ordinance to limit the minister's role in appointments and policy.17 And in their media plan, they say they'll apply the same professional standards to Channel 14 as to every other outlet.27
What does The Democrats say about education?
The education plan cites figures showing the state religious school stream gets 26 percent more per upper-secondary student than the Hebrew state stream, and 39 percent more than the Arab state stream.9 They say schools would be funded equally by number of students and socioeconomic background.9 They'd create a council for state education with powers like the one the state religious stream has, and make civics a core subject alongside English and math.91 There's also a plan to expand subsidized early childhood care for ages zero to three and raise staff pay.1
What does The Democrats say about health?
The health plan says national health spending would rise gradually toward OECD benchmarks, with a bigger yearly addition to the health basket fixed in a multi-year framework.10 They say they'll build the planned new hospital in the Negev and push for new hospitals in the north.10 On staffing, the target is more than 2,000 medical students a year.10 They also propose a national mental health headquarters with authority across ministries, and a state long-term care insurance law.1011
What does The Democrats say about social welfare, pensions and the elderly?
For seniors, they say they'll re-link the old-age allowance to the average wage and raise the base amount over time to make up for two decades of erosion.12 They also propose an extra tax credit point for seniors paying tax on their pension, and automatic granting of benefits people are entitled to.12 For Holocaust survivors, a minister-level coordinator and a monthly allowance for Holocaust refugees from the former Soviet Union.12 There's a separate plan for people with disabilities focused on community living and accessibility.13
What every party says about social welfare, pensions and the elderly
What does The Democrats say about Arab citizens and minorities?
The crime plan, published in Hebrew and Arabic, starts by declaring a national emergency.1516 It describes a task force made up of 5 percent of the top personnel from the police, Shin Bet, IDF and Prison Service, with a budget of 1 billion shekels a year, and a target of nine months from arrest to prison.1 It also proposes dedicated courts and appointed committees to run local councils taken over by crime organizations.1
The Arab society plan adds master plans for Arab, Druze and Bedouin towns, repealing the Kaminitz Law, a new five-year plan to close gaps, and writing equality into a Basic Law.14 On September 23, the party's X account posted that Arab citizens "have a full right to be part of" the country's leadership.33
Other plans in this area: at least 40 percent women required in decision-making bodies, with parties that fall short losing part of their public funding.24 And for LGBTQ citizens, civil marriage, a ban on conversion therapy for minors, and 100 million shekels a year for the government's LGBTQ unit.25
What does The Democrats say about immigration, absorption and the diaspora?
They say they'll write the Law of Return into a Basic Law and protect the eligibility of grandchildren of Jews.18 The absorption basket would run for a year instead of six months, with more money.18 Degree recognition could start before arrival, and there's a five-year plan to encourage Israelis living abroad to come back.18 On the diaspora, they say they'll work with Jewish communities against antisemitism and give equal standing to all streams of Judaism.18
What every party says about immigration, absorption and the diaspora
What does The Democrats say about the environment, energy and transportation?
The environment plan calls for a climate law with a 50 percent emissions cut by 2030 and a 100 percent cut by 2050, closing coal power plants, and moving Bazan and other polluting industry out of Haifa Bay.211 On transport, they target finishing the Gush Dan metro by 2040, speeding up the rail line to Kiryat Shmona, and a five-year plan to cut road deaths in half.20
What every party says about the environment, energy and transportation
What The Democrats puts front and center
The homepage leads with eight plans: security, democracy and law, economy, religion and state, organized crime, education, environment, and LGBTQ rights.30 Their tagline is "without the Democrats there will be no democracy."30
What The Democrats hasn't published
Most checklist topics have a written plan. There's no stand-alone housing plan and no unit or budget targets for housing.5 I didn't find a general position on income tax rates.5 And the 2026 plan doesn't say whether it supports a Palestinian state; that language is only in the 2025 founding document.328
Sources
Everything above comes from what The Democrats 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
The Democrats say they'll pay combat reservists about 1,000 shekels for every day of reserve duty on top of compensation for their lost income, and they put a price on it, about 10 billion shekels a year. That's one line from a platform site with 25 topic pages, each with its own PDF. This is Close Read, and this is a series of 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 Democrats, running as the Democrats, led by Yair Golan, on the ballot letters Aleph
Who they are
Mem Taf, which spell the Hebrew word for truth. The party is the merger of labor and merits, and it's led by Yair Golan, a retired IDF major general. There's a lot here. On their site, there's a 16-page combined platform PDF in Hebrew, dated August 2026.
What they've published
There's a separate platform website called Mahamatsa, What's the Platform?, with 25 topic plans, each with a summary and its own PDF, and some of them were updated in the last week of September. Two of those are Russian and Arabic versions of Hebrew plans on immigration and on organized crime. And there's an older founding document from September 2025 in Hebrew and English that lays out their principles. I'm using the 2026 plans as the main source, and I'll tell you when I'm quoting the 2025 document. The security plan says they'll lead a regional move together with the United States and what it calls quote-unquote
Security and foreign policy
moderate Arab states against extremist forces in the region, with Iran at their head. Concretely, they say they'll advance normalization with Saudi Arabia and the IMEC trade corridor. On the fronts, in Gaza, the plan calls for demilitarizing the strip, replacing Hamas rule, and building enforcement mechanisms through regional and international help. In Lebanon, an international force, a stronger Lebanese army, and Hezbollah and its long-range missiles pushed away from the border, with Israel keeping freedom to act if that's violated. In Syria, a security arrangement to stop hostile groups from entrenching and to block weapons going to Hezbollah. On Iran, the goal they state is to prevent a nuclear bomb and reduce the ballistic missile threat through a rebuilt relationship with the United States and regional alliances.
On the West Bank, the plan says they'll stop annexation. That means halting new outposts, cutting funding to outposts and farms they say were built illegally, returning authority over the territory to the IDF and the defense ministry, and working to repeal what they call the annexation laws. They say they'll evacuate violent outposts and apply quote, zero tolerance for terror, Jewish and Palestinian alike, and strengthen security coordination with the Palestinian authority. On the Palestinian question itself, the 2026 plan talks about a quote, responsible diplomatic move and a moderate Palestinian governing alternative, without more detail. The 2025 founding document is more specific. It calls for responsible separation, permanent borders with a solid Jewish majority, a fully demilitarized future Palestinian state, and full Israeli security control of the Jordan Valley.
On reservists, the target is 21 to 30 reserve days a year, known in advance. Combat reservists would get about 1,000 shekels per day of service on top of wage compensation, with a lower scale for other roles, at a cost the plan puts at about 10 billion shekels a year. They say they'll set up a state commission of inquiry into October 7th and implement its conclusions in full.
October 7 accountability
The plan says those conclusions would guide the defense budget and how the IDF builds its forces. The economic plan, updated September 30th, says they'll cancel what they call sectoral
Economy and cost of living
budgets that quote, encourage not working and not enlisting. In their place, they would raise the minimum wage and the negative income tax, and bring civilian spending toward the OECD average. For young families, they say they'll shorten the work week, add vacation and sick days, and push for paternity leave. On prices, they name food, medicine, and energy cartels, and say they'll bring public transport fares back down and expand the list of price-controlled goods. For the North and the South, they say they'll guarantee the rehabilitation budgets through 2030, and add at least 15 billion shekels to the multi-year plan for the North. I did not find a general position on income tax rates. Housing sits inside the economic plan, not in its own document.
It calls for denser urban renewal near
Housing
transit and jobs, a range of apartment sizes, and a large expansion of long-term rentals and affordable public housing. It doesn't give unit numbers or a budget. Military service is a long section. The plan says everyone is obligated to serve. Young people would go through a state
Religion and state
screening, and the IDF needs come first. And anyone not needed by the army does civilian or national service run by the state. They also say they'll repeal a law on arresting deserters and enforce the security service law equally. The slogan is "no draft, no money." They say they'll end benefits like daycare, after school, and municipal tax discounts for people who have not settled their status with the army, and cut public money to institutions and rabbis who promote not enlisting. Beyond the draft, they say they'll pass a civil marriage law and allow civil divorce, recognize non-orthodox conversion, and end the rabbinate's monopoly on kashrut certification. They want public transport on Shabbat, connecting all cities with local authorities deciding arrangements inside their own towns.
And they say they'll stop funding the Haredi party-run school networks and make a state Haredi school system, the main track, with a five-year building plan. The democracy plan says they'll repeal all the laws of what they call the regime coup.
Judiciary and governance
They named two specifically: the law changing the judicial selection committee and the law expanding the powers of the religious courts. They also say they'll pass term limits, eight years for a prime minister, clear rules for incapacity, and a legal ban on ministers or a prime minister serving under indictment. Other items: a basic law on legislation that sets how basic laws are passed and how judicial review works, social rights like health, education, and housing written into basic laws, and amending the nation-state law. They'd also anchor in law the independence of government's legal advisors and the binding status of their opinions. For the police, they say they'll amend the police ordinance to limit the minister's role in appointments and policy.
And in their media plan, they say they'll apply the same professional standards to Channel 14 as to every other outlet. The education plan cites figures showing the state religious school stream gets 26% more
Education
upper secondary students than the Hebrew state stream, and 39% more than the Arab state stream. They say schools will be funded equally by number of students and socioeconomic background. They create a council over state education with powers like the one the state religious stream has, and make civics a core subject alongside English and math. There's also a plan to expand subsidized early childhood care for ages zero to three and raise staff pay. The health plan says national health spending would rise gradually toward OECD
Health
benchmarks, with a bigger yearly addition to the health basket fixed in a multi-year framework. They say they'll build the planned new hospital in the Negev and push for new hospitals in the north. On staffing, the target is more than 2,000 medical students a year. They also oppose a national mental health headquarters with authority across ministries and a state long-term care insurance law. For seniors, they say they'll relink the old age allowance to the average wage and raise
Social welfare, pensions, and the elderly
the base amount over time to make up for two decades of erosion. They also oppose an extra tax credit point for seniors paying tax on their pension and automatic granting of benefits people are entitled to. For Holocaust survivors, a minister level coordinator, and a monthly allowance for Holocaust refugees from the former Soviet Union. There's a separate plan for people with disabilities focused on community living and accessibility. The crime plan, published in Hebrew and Arabic, starts by declaring a national emergency.
Arab citizens and minorities
It describes a task force made up of five percent of the top personnel from the police, shinbet, IDF, and prison service, with a budget of one billion shekels a year and a target of nine months from arrest to prison. It also opposes dedicated courts and appointed committees to run local councils that were taken over by crime organizations. The Arab society plan adds master plans for Arab, Druze, and Bedouin towns. Repealing the Cominence Law, a new five-year plan to enclose gaps, and writing equality into a basic law. On September 23rd, the party's ex-account posted that Arab citizens have a full right to be part of the country's leadership. Other plans in this area, at least 40 percent women required in decision-making bodies, with parties that fall short losing part of their public funding, and for LGBTQ citizens, civil marriage, a ban on conversion therapy for minors, and 100 million shekels a year for the government's LGBTQ unit.
They say they'll write the law of return into a basic law and protect the eligibility
Immigration, absorption, and diaspora
of grandchildren of Jews. The absorption basket would run for a year instead of six months, with more money. Degree recognition could start before arrival, and there's a five-year plan to encourage Israelis living abroad to come back home. On the diaspora, they say they'll work with Jewish communities against anti-Semitism, and give equal standing to all streams of Judaism. The Environment Plan calls for a climate law, with a 50 percent emissions cut by 2030, and a 100 percent cut by 2050, closing
Environment, energy, and transportation
coal power plants and moving Bazan and other polluting industry out of Haifa Bay. On transport, they target finishing the Gushdan Metro by 2040, speeding up the rail line to Kiryat Shmona, and a five-year plan to cut road deaths in half. The homepage leads with eight plans: security, democracy and law, economy,
What they put front and center
religion and state, organized crime, education, environment, and LGBTQ rights. Their tagline is: "Without the Democrats, there will be no democracy." Most checklist topics have a written plan. There's no standalone housing plan and no
What's missing
unit or budget targets for housing. I didn't find the general position on income tax rates. And the 2026 plan doesn't say whether it supports a Palestinian state. That language is only in the 2025 founding document. That's what the Democrats have put in writing as of October 11th, 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 18, RAM, and the full playlist is linked below.
