# Yisrael Beiteinu: what they've published

Close Read, episode 11. Yisrael Beiteinu (ישראל ביתנו), list 11, ballot letters ל. Published October 7, 2026. Israel's Knesset election is on October 27, 2026.

- Page: https://closeread.show/israel-2026/yisrael-beiteinu/
- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxb6BgUsCGU
- Audio: https://media.closeread.show/audio/closeread-011-yisrael-beiteinu-0271efa1.mp3

Yisrael Beiteinu says the first decision of the next government should be a state commission of inquiry into October 7. [S1](#source-s1) And it wants a draft law under which anyone who evades service loses state benefits, and deserters lose the right to vote. [S1](#source-s1)

## Who is Yisrael Beiteinu?

Yisrael Beiteinu runs on the ballot letter Lamed, headed by Avigdor Liberman, as a single party. [S18](#source-s18)

## What has Yisrael Beiteinu published?

This party has published a lot, and in two languages. [S1](#source-s1) [S2](#source-s2) The main document is a Hebrew platform page on their website, called "our platform," last updated September 16. [S1](#source-s1) It opens with ten "basic guidelines for the next government" and then has tabs on security, internal security, foreign policy, governance, the economy, religion and state, education, welfare, and health. [S1](#source-s1)

There's also a separate Russian platform page, updated September 27. [S2](#source-s2) It overlaps with the Hebrew one, but it adds things the Hebrew page doesn't have, including a housing plan, an immigrant program, and a list of constitutional principles. [S2](#source-s2) On top of that they published a seniors platform in August, a youth education platform written with a student council, and a 16-page Russian campaign newspaper. [S3](#source-s3) [S4](#source-s4) [S8](#source-s8) I also used press releases on the party site and Liberman's Russian-language Telegram channel. [S9](#source-s9) [S10](#source-s10) [S17](#source-s17) The originals are in Hebrew and Russian, and they're linked in the description.

## What does Yisrael Beiteinu say about security and foreign policy?

The platform lays out six security principles. [S1](#source-s1) Any border violation, "even by one millimeter," counts as an invasion. [S1](#source-s1) Israel should strike first, fight in enemy territory, not let enemies build up their forces, and end every conflict with what it calls a clear decision. [S1](#source-s1) It also says the army should always keep enough munitions for 45 days of fighting. [S1](#source-s1)

On money, the platform would raise the defense budget from 70 billion to 95 billion shekels a year for ten years. [S1](#source-s1) The Russian page puts it a different way, as 8 percent of GDP for the coming decade. [S2](#source-s2) The Hebrew platform also lists a missile corps, five new armored brigades, and doubling the number of maneuvering divisions from three to six. [S1](#source-s1)

On Gaza, the platform says Israel should keep freedom of military action, and end its responsibility for the Strip by closing the crossings and cutting off water, electricity and fuel. [S1](#source-s1) Responsibility would pass to "an agreed international body." [S1](#source-s1) An earlier English article on the party site, from May 2025, proposed putting Gaza under Egypt with an Arab League mandate and supported what it called voluntary emigration of Gazans to Sinai. [S14](#source-s14)

On the West Bank, the platform says to stabilize security and the economy "in cooperation with Jordan." [S1](#source-s1) On his Telegram channel in September, Liberman wrote about the West Bank in more detail. [S17](#source-s17) He wrote that Israel should create territorial contiguity across all of Area C and keep full control there, and reach an agreement for Jordan to administer Areas A and B. [S17](#source-s17) Five days later he wrote that the Palestinian Authority should be dismantled. [S17](#source-s17)

The platform rejects a deal with the Palestinians alone and calls for a comprehensive regional package instead. [S1](#source-s1) It says there will be no negotiations over Jerusalem. [S1](#source-s1)

On Iran, a plan the party published in June says that for every Iranian launch at Israel, Israel would destroy Kharg Island and the port of Bandar Abbas. [S10](#source-s10) The same plan says the Mossad should focus on one mission, bringing down the regime. [S10](#source-s10) On Lebanon, Liberman called in March for the war aim to be eliminating Hezbollah. [S11](#source-s11) And on the United States, the Russian platform says Israel should push to extend US security aid past 2028, when the current agreement ends. [S2](#source-s2)

## What does Yisrael Beiteinu say about accountability for October 7?

This is item one in the platform. [S1](#source-s1) The first government decision would be a state commission of inquiry into the failures before what the platform calls "the October 7 massacre." [S1](#source-s1) The commission would have a mandate to assign responsibility at the political, military and intelligence levels. [S1](#source-s1) In a September Telegram post, Liberman wrote that the commission should also investigate the decision to let Qatari money into Gaza. [S17](#source-s17)

## What does Yisrael Beiteinu say about the economy and the cost of living?

The platform calls for a "package deal" for the economy: less regulation, fewer ministries, breaking up monopolies. [S1](#source-s1) The specific items include privatizing Ashdod port and Haifa airport, ending the status of exclusive importers, and dismantling the agricultural production boards, including the poultry board. [S1](#source-s1) It would extend the work grant, Israel's earned income tax credit, to single people over 26 earning up to 8,000 shekels a month. [S1](#source-s1) And it would cancel child allowances starting from the fifth child. [S1](#source-s1)

There are also technology items: a billion shekels over five years for artificial intelligence, and another billion for national research labs. [S1](#source-s1) For the self-employed, a voluntary savings fund that the state would match. [S1](#source-s1) The Russian page adds a daycare tax credit of 2,500 shekels a month for working couples where at least one spouse served in the army or does reserve duty. [S2](#source-s2) It also says funding should be cut to "sectors that do not carry the burden" and are not in the labor market. [S2](#source-s2)

## What does Yisrael Beiteinu say about housing?

The Hebrew platform focuses on supply. [S1](#source-s1) Developers would compete on build quality, delivery time and the final price to the buyer, instead of on the price of the land. [S1](#source-s1) Local authorities that approve permits quickly would get paid for it, and regional councils would sign agreements for 2,500 permits each over four years. [S1](#source-s1) The Russian page adds a mortgage plan: loans of up to 90 percent of the price, over up to 40 years, for homes up to 2.5 million shekels. [S2](#source-s2) It's limited to couples where at least one spouse did full military service or is an active reservist. [S2](#source-s2)

## What does Yisrael Beiteinu say about religion and state?

The draft law would cover every Israeli at 18, "without distinction of religion or origin," with a military track and a civilian track. [S1](#source-s1) Draft evaders would lose allowances, discounts on housing and municipal tax, and eligibility for civil service jobs. [S1](#source-s1) Deserters would face a criminal record, a ban on leaving the country, and loss of the right to vote. [S1](#source-s1)

The platform uses the phrase "separation of religion and state." [S1](#source-s1) Under that heading it lists civil marriage and divorce for every citizen, public transport on Shabbat decided by each local authority, and abolishing the religious councils. [S1](#source-s1) It wants one chief rabbi for Israel and one city rabbi for each town, and it would move the rabbinical courts to the Justice Ministry. [S1](#source-s1) Yeshiva and kollel students would stop receiving stipends and "fund their studies from their own money." [S1](#source-s1) And the platform says the state will not re-examine the Jewishness of anyone who immigrated under the Law of Return. [S1](#source-s1)

## What does Yisrael Beiteinu say about the judiciary and governance?

The platform calls for a written constitution and a constitutional court. [S1](#source-s1) It would limit a prime minister to two terms, bar anyone under indictment from forming a government, and oppose both the so-called "French law" and the override clause. [S1](#source-s1) It would also amend the Nation-State Law to add equal rights for members of every religion and nationality. [S1](#source-s1) The Russian page adds that the largest party should get the first chance to form a government, and that the government should be able to hire outside lawyers so it doesn't depend only on the attorney general. [S2](#source-s2) In September, Liberman wrote that the new government should appoint experts to draft a constitution, and that the Knesset should pass a law to put it to a national referendum. [S7](#source-s7)

## What does Yisrael Beiteinu say about education?

Core studies would be mandatory for every student: math, English, computers, civics and Bible. [S1](#source-s1) Schools that don't teach the full core would get no state funding. [S1](#source-s1) Teacher raises would go straight into teachers' accounts, and 12th grade would become a year of preparation for adult life and military or civilian service. [S1](#source-s1) The platform also says Arab teachers trained at universities in the Palestinian Authority or Jordan should have to pass a civics exam before teaching. [S1](#source-s1) The youth platform adds smaller classes and budget equality among school streams. [S4](#source-s4)

## What does Yisrael Beiteinu say about health?

The platform lists two new hospitals, one in the north and one in the south. [S1](#source-s1) It also lists more positions for doctors and nurses in the periphery, more hospital beds, and bringing back a national diabetes program. [S1](#source-s1) It wants the drug basket updated on a fixed schedule, so patients don't have to lobby for it. [S1](#source-s1)

## What does Yisrael Beiteinu say about social welfare, pensions and the elderly?

The platform would raise every retiree's income to at least the minimum wage, in two steps. [S1](#source-s1) It would give pensioners free public transport and raise the annual grant to Holocaust survivors from 6,500 to 8,000 shekels. [S1](#source-s1) The seniors platform would raise the basic old-age allowance, in stages, to 25 percent of the average wage, indexed to wages or prices, whichever is higher. [S3](#source-s3) It also calls for a minister, or a dedicated authority at the government level, for senior citizens. [S3](#source-s3)

## What does Yisrael Beiteinu say about Arab citizens and minorities?

The platform says relations with the Arab minority rest on the Declaration of Independence. [S1](#source-s1) It says it "expects the Arabs of Israel to show loyalty" to the state. [S1](#source-s1) It would legislate deterrent punishment for incitement against the state and for meeting with Israel's enemies. [S1](#source-s1) It says minorities who identify with the state and contribute to it are entitled to full rights, and those who act against it "must be fought by all legal means." [S1](#source-s1) The draft law would apply to Muslims, Christians, Druze and Circassians. [S1](#source-s1) A section whose Hebrew title translates word for word as "Judaization of the Galilee" calls for new communities and larger admissions-committee quotas in the Negev and the Galilee. [S1](#source-s1)

## What does Yisrael Beiteinu say about immigration, absorption and the diaspora?

The Hebrew platform calls for a ministerial committee for aliyah. [S1](#source-s1) The Russian immigrant program has 14 points. [S5](#source-s5) It would make the Law of Return a Basic Law, so a simple Knesset majority can't change it. [S5](#source-s5) It would bring back a law on issuing passports to new immigrants, which it says the current coalition repealed. [S5](#source-s5) Other points include government services in immigrants' languages and faster recognition of foreign diplomas. [S5](#source-s5)

## What does Yisrael Beiteinu say about the environment, energy and transportation?

I couldn't find a published position on the environment or energy in either platform. [S1](#source-s1) [S2](#source-s2) On transportation, beyond the Shabbat item and free rides for pensioners, the youth platform asks for cheaper public transport and cheaper driving licenses for young people. [S1](#source-s1) [S4](#source-s4)

## What Yisrael Beiteinu puts front and center

The campaign slogan is "we must reach a decision." [S9](#source-s9) Liberman named six issues he says need one: Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, the draft, organized crime, and a constitution. [S9](#source-s9) On crime, the platform calls for a national headquarters against organized crime and three special courts for serious crime. [S1](#source-s1) It would allow administrative detention of crime bosses and the use of spyware against them. [S1](#source-s1) The party has named MK Hamed Amar as its candidate for internal security minister. [S13](#source-s13)

## What Yisrael Beiteinu hasn't published

The platforms don't address the environment, climate or energy. [S1](#source-s1) [S2](#source-s2) Most other topics are covered, though several items, including the mortgage plan and the immigrant program, appear only on the Russian pages. [S2](#source-s2) [S5](#source-s5)

## Chapters

- 0:00 Intro
- 0:20 About this series
- 0:47 Who they are
- 1:54 Security and foreign policy
- 4:29 October 7 accountability
- 4:54 Economy and cost of living
- 6:00 Housing
- 6:36 Religion and state
- 7:42 Judiciary and governance
- 8:25 Education
- 9:04 Health
- 9:24 Social welfare, pensions, and the elderly
- 9:55 Arab citizens and minorities
- 10:41 Immigration, absorption, and diaspora
- 11:08 Environment, energy, and transportation
- 11:22 What they put front and center
- 11:58 What's missing

## Sources

- <a id="source-s1"></a>S1: ["המצע שלנו" (Our platform): "קווי היסוד של ישראל ביתנו לממשלה הבאה" (Yisrael Beiteinu's basic guidelines for the next government) plus tabs on security, internal security, foreign policy, governance, economy, religion and state, education, welfare, health. Cited from the desktop version of the page (see note below).](https://beytenu.org.il/party-platform/) (Platform (web page), Hebrew, published First published 2024-08-14; last modified 2026-09-16)
- <a id="source-s2"></a>S2: ["Программа партии" (Party program), Russian-language platform page with tabs: security, immigrant integration, political system, economy and welfare, religion and state, education, medicine, foreign policy, constitution](https://beytenu.org.il/ru/metza-ru/) (Platform (web page), Russian, published 2026-09-02; last modified 2026-09-27)
- <a id="source-s3"></a>S3: ["מצע: מטה האזרחים הוותיקים של מפלגת ישראל ביתנו" (Platform of the party's senior citizens headquarters), with a four-year rollout](https://beytenu.org.il/מצע-מטה-אזרחים-ותיקים/) (Platform (web page), Hebrew, published 2026-08-04)
- <a id="source-s4"></a>S4: ["מצע ישראל ביתנו בנושא החינוך: יחד עם מועצת התלמידים" (Education platform, together with the student council); same text also appears in S1's education tab](https://beytenu.org.il/מצע-ישראל-ביתנו-בנושא-החינוך-יחד-עם-מו/) (Platform (web page), Hebrew, published 2026-08-26)
- <a id="source-s5"></a>S5: ["Программа НДИ для новых репатриантов!" (Yisrael Beiteinu program for new immigrants), 14 points; same text in S2's integration tab, in S8 p.5, and in Telegram post 3045 (S17)](https://beytenu.org.il/ru/программа-нди-для-новых-репатриантов/) (Program (web page), Russian, published 2026-08-16)
- <a id="source-s6"></a>S6: ["Программа НДИ для людей пенсионного возраста" (Yisrael Beiteinu program for people of pension age), 7 points; same text in S2's economy tab and S8 p.4](https://beytenu.org.il/ru/программа-нди-для-людей-пенсионного-в/) (Program (web page), Russian, published 2026-09-27)
- <a id="source-s7"></a>S7: ["Возможно ли сегодня принять в Израиле конституцию?" (Is it possible to adopt a constitution in Israel today?), first-person text by Liberman; also posted on his Telegram channel as post 3031 (S17)](https://beytenu.org.il/ru/возможно-ли-сегодня-принять-в-израиле/) (Leader statement (web page), Russian, published 2026-09-19)
- <a id="source-s8"></a>S8: ["Время НДИ" (Yisrael Beiteinu Time), "Издание партии 'Наш дом Израиль' во главе с Авигдором Либерманом" (publication of the Yisrael Beiteinu party headed by Avigdor Liberman). Contains the pensioner and immigrant programs, candidate profiles, op-eds, and a "how to vote" box showing the ballot letter ל (p.14). Embedded as a flipbook on the "Газета НДИ" page.](https://beytenu.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/01-16-1.pdf) (Campaign newspaper (PDF, 16 pp.), Russian (masthead also Hebrew), published PDF created 2026-09-06; page posted 2026-09-10)
- <a id="source-s9"></a>S9: ["מסיבת העיתונאים של ישראל ביתנו: ליברמן מציג את 6 החזיתות שהוא יכריע!" (Liberman presents the six fronts he will decide), launch of the slogan "חייבים להכריע"](https://beytenu.org.il/מסיבת-העיתונאים-של-ישראל-ביתנו-חייבים/) (Press release (web page), Hebrew, published 2026-05-07)
- <a id="source-s10"></a>S10: ["התוכנית של אביגדור ליברמן ליום שאחרי ההסכם עם איראן" (Liberman's six-point plan for the day after the US-Iran agreement)](https://beytenu.org.il/תוכנית-ששת-הסעיפים-של-אביגדור-ליברמן-ה/) (Press release (web page), Hebrew, published 2026-06-15)
- <a id="source-s11"></a>S11: ["ליברמן בגבול לבנון: חייבים לחסל את חיזבאללה" (Liberman at the Lebanon border: Hezbollah must be eliminated); companion post to northern mayors the same day](https://beytenu.org.il/ליברמן-בגבול-לבנון-חייבים-לחסל-את-חיזב/) (Press release (web page), Hebrew, published 2026-03-18)
- <a id="source-s12"></a>S12: ["ליברמן בזירת הפגיעה בחיפה: חייבים לעשות הכל כדי להחזיר את תוכנית מיגון הצפון" (restore the northern home-protection program)](https://beytenu.org.il/ליברמן-בזירת-הפגיעה-בחיפה-חייבים-לעשו/) (Press release (web page), Hebrew, published 2026-04-13)
- <a id="source-s13"></a>S13: ["ח״כ חמד עמאר מועמד ישראל ביתנו לתפקיד השר לביטחון הפנים בממשלה הבאה" (Hamed Amar named as the party's candidate for internal security minister)](https://beytenu.org.il/israel-beytenu-hamed-amar-internal-security/) (Press release (web page), Hebrew, published 2026-05-27)
- <a id="source-s14"></a>S14: ["The Day After in Gaza: Lieberman's Vision" / "Egypt Must Step Up: Avigdor Liberman's Day-After Plan for Gaza" (party's English-speakers section). Dated May 2025, before the current campaign.](https://beytenu.org.il/the-day-after-in-gaza-liebermans-vision/) (Article (web page), English, published 2025-05-13)
- <a id="source-s15"></a>S15: ["No Enlistment, No Vote" (English-speakers section; written in the first person by an unnamed party MK, describes MK Oded Forer's bill). Dated May 2025.](https://beytenu.org.il/no-enlistment-no-vote/) (Article (web page), English, published 2025-05-14)
- <a id="source-s16"></a>S16: ["English speakers" landing page summarizing the party's positions for English speakers](https://beytenu.org.il/דוברי-אנגלית/) (Web page, English, published 2025-05-08; modified 2025-05-14)
- <a id="source-s17"></a>S17: [Telegram channel @libermanru, "Новости от Авигдора Либермана" (News from Avigdor Liberman), posts 3030, 3031, 3037, 3040, 3045, 3046 (September 19 to 28, 2026)](https://t.me/s/libermanru) (Social posts, Russian, published 2026-09-19 to 2026-09-28)
- <a id="source-s18"></a>S18: [Central Elections Committee list page "ישראל ביתנו בראשות אביגדור ליברמן", ballot letter ל, list submitted by the Yisrael Beiteinu party; ballot slip PDF and image](https://www.gov.il/he/pages/israel-beitenu_list11) (Official record (CEC), Hebrew, published Published 2026-09-07; updated 2026-09-29)
- <a id="source-s19"></a>S19: ["רשימת מפלגת ישראל ביתנו לכנסת הבאה" (the party's candidate list for the 26th Knesset)](https://beytenu.org.il/רשימת-מפלגת-ישראל-ביתנו-לכנסת-הבאה/) (Press release (web page), Hebrew, published 2026-09-06)
- <a id="source-s20"></a>S20: [Party homepages (Hebrew and Russian) and news index, used for the inventory only](https://beytenu.org.il/) (Web pages (context), Hebrew, Russian, published n/a)