Politics: A Political Guide for the Perplexed: Gil Hoffman, Jerusalem Post, Jan. 10, 2013
The Jerusalem Post has compiled the following Guide to the Perplexed about the 14 parties that have passed the threshold in at least three polls. Much of the information comes from the Israel Democracy Institute, which compiled platforms of all the parties for its Election Compass, which can be found on JPost.com.
LIKUD BEYTENU
Previous Performance: 42 mandates (27 Likud, 15 Yisrael Beytenu)
Poll position: 32-34
Diplomatic platform: Netanyahu supports a demilitarized Palestinian state; the Likud does not. Yisrael Beytenu supports demographic separation via a territory and population exchange. Socioeconomic platform: The Likud boasts creation of 350,000 jobs, cellular reform; wants housing reform. Yisrael Beytenu embraces both social compassion and the notion of a free economy.
Religion/State platform: Yisrael Beytenu wants universal service for all Israelis, including Arabs.
LABOR
Previous Performance: 13
Poll position: 16-18
Diplomatic platform: Favors immediate return to peace talks without preconditions based on the 2000 Clinton plan, strengthening relations with the West and rehabilitating and initiating new connections with moderate Muslim countries.
Socioeconomic platform: Favors increasing public expenditures by collecting more tax revenues from the rich; will work for fairer wages for employees, lower cost of living.
Religion/State platform: Supports civil marriage, wants to help haredim be able to work but not force them to serve; opposes opening businesses on Shabbat because wants workers to have a day off.
BAYIT YEHUDI
Previous Performance: 3 (+2 in National Union)
Poll position: 13-16
Diplomatic platform: Supports annexing Area C in Judea and Samaria; would create geographic continuity between the remaining areas of the West Bank that would be controlled by the Palestinians in an entity that would either be autonomous or confederated with Jordan.
Socioeconomic platform: Committed to lowering prices, including price of housing.
Religion/State platform: Wants religious Zionists to take back Chief Rabbinate; to expand national service for haredim; and encourage Jewish pride.
SHAS
Previous Performance: 11
Poll position: 10-13
Diplomatic platform: Arye Deri says Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef wants a longterm interim agreement with the Palestinians. The rest of Shas is more conservative.
Socioeconomic platform: Favors affirmative action for Sephardim to ease the social gap, wants to prevent budget cuts from harming poor families.
Religion/State platform: Supports the right for those studying Torah to continue to do so, while encouraging incremental changes that have brought more haredim into service, academic programs, and the workforce.
YESH ATID
Previous Performance: New
Poll position: 9-12
Diplomatic platform: Favors diplomatic negotiations with Palestinians on an agreement in which Israel keeps settlement blocs; undivided Jerusalem; and Jordan Valley IDF presence.
Socioeconomic platform: Sees helping middle class, small businesses as key to economic growth; has a plan to reduce monthly utility costs.
Religion/State platform: Demands equal service for all while taking the needs of the haredim into account via a plan that will be implemented over five years. Backs religious pluralism, taking power away from haredim.
TZIPI LIVNI PARTY (Hatnuah)
Previous Performance: New (7 MKs shifted from Kadima)
Poll position: 8
Diplomatic platform: Would revive the peace process and the hope of reaching a lasting accord with Israel’s neighbors on a two-state peace.
Socioeconomic platform: Has plan to reduce social inequities and restore equality of opportunity to the country. Supports increased minimum wage and public housing; backs differential value-added tax, canceling subsidies for West Bank and haredim.
Religion/State platform: Seeks to reestablish Israel as a free society respectful of different approaches to Jewish life and offering equal support to all streams in Judaism.
UNITED TORAH JUDAISM
Previous Performance: 5
Poll position: 5-7
Diplomatic platform: Will ask its rabbis when the questions are practical and no longer theoretical.
Socioeconomic platform: Boasts passing dozens of laws on socioeconomic issues.
Religion/State platform: Calls for maintaining status quo on all matters of religion and state.
MERETZ
Previous Performance: 3
Poll position: 4-6
Diplomatic platform: Wants immediate de facto recognition of a Palestinian state, diplomatic negotiations on a comprehensive deal on core issues to replace the Oslo Accords to be guaranteed by a new regional quartet of Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, which would also work on a peace initiative with the Arab world.
Socioeconomic platform: Backs changing taxation system to ease inequality; deprivatizing formerly government services; stopping favoritism to settlers and haredim in the state budget.
Religion/State platform: Calls for freedom of religion and freedom from religion and passing legislation to ensure religious pluralism and prevent religious coercion.
UNITED ARAB LIST
Previous Performance: 4
Poll position: 3-4
Diplomatic platform: Demands Israeli withdrawal to pre-1967 borders; creation of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital; dismantling all settlements in Golan Heights and in the West Bank.
Socioeconomic platform: Wants more funding for Muslim religious sites and for Arab constituency.
Religion/State platform: Muslim religious party advocates protecting Muslim religion and Arab minority; giving Islamic religious courts greater freedom.
HADASH (Arab)
Previous Performance: 4
Poll position: 3-4
Diplomatic platform: Wants Israel to withdraw from all occupied territories, help establish a Palestinian state and make peace with the rest of the world via the Saudi plan. Would recognize the Arab population of Israel as a minority group with protected rights.
Socioeconomic platform: Would set a minimum wage of 60 percent of the average wage, raise child welfare payments by 40% and cancel privatization.
Religion/State platform: Wants a constitution that would guarantee the secular character of the state and the equality of its citizens.
BALAD (Arab)
Previous Performance: 3
Poll position: 3-4
Diplomatic platform: Champions turning the State of Israel into a “state of all of its citizens” with an Israeli withdrawal from all of the contested territories; granting the right of return to all Palestinians to a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Socioeconomic platform: Favors a just tax policy aimed at the equitable distribution of social resources, including a capital gains tax and a policy of tax cuts in general, and particularly for low-wage workers.
Religion/State platform: Advocates separation of religion and state; demands recognition of Israeli Arabs as a national minority and preserving their national, cultural and ethnic uniqueness.
KADIMA
Previous Performance: 28
Poll position: 0-2
Diplomatic platform: Would withdraw from Palestinian areas of the West Bank via a long-term interim agreement and then withdraw to final borders following negotiations with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Socioeconomic platform: Emphasizes easing social gaps between the haves and have-nots.
Religion/State platform: Calls for equalizing the salaries of IDF soldiers, who make NIS 352 a month, with those of kollel students, who the party claims make up to NIS 3,400 from governmental benefits.
STRONG ISRAEL
Previous Performance: 2 (as part of National Union)
Poll position: 0-4
Diplomatic platform: Wants to annex all of Judea and Samaria, cancel the Oslo agreements and dismantle the Palestinian Authority police.
Socioeconomic platform: Would increase benefits to immigrants who bring their businesses to Israel. Wants to increase competition and prevent monopolies, while limiting tycoons.
Religion/State platform: Would protect rights of Jews to pray on Temple Mount, favors eliminating Arabic as an official language.
AM SHALEM
Previous Performance: New (Haim Amsalem used to be in Shas)
Poll position: 0-3
Diplomatic platform: Consider itself right-wing.
Socioeconomic platform: Focuses on enabling the poorest sectors to remove themselves from the endless struggle to survive.
Religion and State: Aim to restore moderate Judaism to Israel by transforming the Chief Rabbinate to reflect a lenient and Zionistic Judaism; educating and inspiring all citizens to serve in the IDF; demanding at least national or civil service; creating haredi yeshiva high schools and joint yeshiva and college programs as preparation for entrance into the workforce. Offers moderate plan for resolving conversion crisis.
