Me and You: what they've published

Intro

0:00Me and You says the way to lower the cost of living is for the state itself to enter markets like banking, credit, fuel, housing, and food as a central competitor. This is Close Read, and this is a series about what Israel's parties are promised and could do in their own published words for

About this series

0:17English-speaking voters ahead of the October 27 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. Me and You, the Israeli People's Party, runs under the ballot letters Pe and Hey. It's a single party founded in 2017 and led

Who they are

0:45by Dr. Alon Giladi. Their website, anivata.org.il, is one page. It has an about text that takes positions on

What they've published

0:55the cost of living, Gaza, the West Bank, the courts, and health. And it mentions October 7th, so it's written in the last few years. It links to two PDFs. The first is a 37-page founding charter date of 2016, which the site calls the party's basic principles. The second is a one-page model preamble for a constitution called the Israeli Charter. So when I quote the charter, keep in mind it's from 2016. Where the charter and the current homepage say different things, I will point it out. The party describes itself as, quote, social, liberal, democratic, and Zionist, end quote. Its central idea is replacing what it calls the rule of capital and nationalism with the rule of the individual and the people.

1:44The homepage calls its, quote, flagship plan an Israeli marshal plan for a free,

Security and foreign policy

1:51democratic, and demilitarized Gaza. Under that plan, a zone they call the Be'eri Strip and the Philadelphia Corridor, which they call the Samson Corridor, would be under Israeli sovereignty. Hamas and Islamic Jihad would be disarmed and also outlawed. For the West Bank, the homepage calls for a, quote, free, democratic, and demilitarized Palestinian federation, end quote. Israel would keep sovereignty over the northern Dead Sea, the Jordan Valley, the settlement blocks, the Ma'ale Adumim Corridor, and a united Jerusalem. The homepage calls both expulsion and unilateral separation in the West Bank, quote, delusional solutions. The 2016 charter backs a two-state framework, a demilitarized Palestinian state and a referendum on any peace agreement.

2:45It rejects the Palestinian right of return. One difference. The charter proposes joint sovereignty with the Palestinian state in the Jordan Valley, while the current homepage lists the Jordan Valley under Israeli sovereignty. On Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah, the charter says Israel should act, quote, with force and determination, in cooperation with a moderate Arab world, and, quote, especially the United States, end quote. I couldn't find a published position on a commission of inquiry. The homepage mentions October 7th as one

October 7 accountability

3:20result of what it calls the corruption of Israel's systems. On the cost of living is where they are most specific. They say the cost of living will be solved, quote, only, end quote, by the state

Economy and cost of living

3:33entering essential markets as a central player. Banks, credit, fuel, housing, food, communications. It says that's the only way to get competition in those fields. The charter adds more. It proposes profitable government enterprises that set a model wage, a model profit, and a model consumer price. It calls for a one-year state budget, a fight against monopolies and cartels, price controls on essential goods, a negative income tax, and a minimum wage it calls proper. It also says the party will act to erase the public debts to capital holders. Housing appears on the homepage's list of markets a state would enter. The charter proposes a new government ministry with powers in housing and an

Housing

4:23expanded role for Amidar, the state housing company. I didn't find a separate housing plan. The 2016 charter says the state should encourage free, voluntary, religious life,

Religion and state

4:37and at the same time gradually separate what it calls religion's coercive dimensions from state institutions. It calls for voluntary religious services, especially in marriage, divorce, and conversion, and new principles for conversion. I couldn't find a position on Haredi military service or on Shabbat. The homepage presents its judicial position as an alternative to both what it calls Levin's legal reform, end quote, and the

Judiciary and governance

5:07protests against it. It calls for, quote, sharp professionalization and independence for the justice system. At the same time, it calls for amending the interpretation law to remove what it calls, quote, the Aron Barak agenda, end quote, from judging. And for severe sanctions on judges who don't rule by the law and the facts. The Israeli charter is a draft preamble for a constitution to be adopted after a referendum. The founding charter calls for abolishing or substantially changing the electoral threshold. It also calls for abolishing the Khan Public Broadcasting Corporation and reestablishing the old Broadcasting Authority. The charter's goal is free, high-quality education from early childhood through

Education

5:56university, reached step by step. It proposes moving money from buildings to teachers and teacher training, a long school day, and funded training for students in exchange for a period of state service. It says the curriculum should teach freedom and equality rather than what it calls nationalist content alongside traditional core subjects. The homepage reposes a state authority for medical means, set up as a parallel to

Health

6:21Rafael, the state defense company, to research cancer and heart disease, and develop life-saving drugs, quote, through the power of the state, end quote. The charter adds a bigger drug basket guaranteed by law, lower health insurance costs, and new government hospitals in areas far from the center. The charter proposes expanding national insurance and a national social service as

Social welfare, pensions, and the elderly

6:51tools to narrow social gaps. I couldn't find anything specific on pensions or on the elderly. The charter firmly opposes transferring any Arab citizen of Israel to another entity.

Arab citizens and minorities

7:05The party's registered goals call for uniting the lower and middle classes, quote, quote, without distinction of religion, race, sex, and community, end quote. I didn't find a broader program. The Israeli charter includes, quote, the engathering of the exiles in its description of the state.

Immigration, absorption, and diaspora

7:25The founding charter ties new conversion principles to people who want to join the Jewish people in Israel. The charter calls for an emergency plan to save the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea,

Environment, energy, and transportation

7:41including a national desalination plant, and for taking beaches out of private hands and returning them to public use. Their registered goals and the Israeli charter come back to one idea.

What they put front and center

7:58Give freedom and socioeconomic equality equal status in a constitution with what they call a modern separation of powers between them. Me and you hasn't published a position on October 7th, accountability, Haredi service,

What's missing

8:16pensions, energy, or transportation. And much of the detail I read today comes from a charter dated 2016, rather than a platform written for this election. That's what me and you has put in writing as of this recording. Every source I use is linked in the description, most of them in Hebrews. You can read them yourself. If they publish more before October 27th, I'll do my best to pin it updated in the comments. Next is list number 22, Brit Olam, and the full playlist is linked below. The Close Read is free to watch and to listen. And if you'd like to support it, you'll find me at Patreon on patreon.com slash thecloseread, linked in the description.