Latest / The Pluralist Podcast - with Orly Erez-Likhovski and Rabbi Josh Weinberg / Israel's Election: What's Really at Stake for Israeli Democracy, Equality, and Religious Pluralism?
Transcript
- speaker-0: Shalom friends, thank you for joining us My name is Leslie Sachs, and I'm the chair of the Board of the Directors of the Israel Movement for Progressive and Reformed Judaism. The IMPJ represents fifty five congregations in Israel, and we promote values of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence. enriching reform, Jewish identity among Israeli diverse population. Many of many of you might have read about the Israeli election system and also the current elections, or even maybe participated in some of the webinars that we've been holding on this topic. Today we're focusing on how these elections can impact reform and liberal Judaism in Israel. I want to thank all of our partners organizations for making this webinar possible. And I'd like to especially acknowledge Artseinu and the URJ. The webinar will include discussions moderated by Shoshana Duwek, co-chair of Artseinu. And this discussion will be with the IMPJ's CEO, CEO Anna Kislanski, and Orly Erzlichovsky, the director of Iraq, which is the Israel Religious Action Center, the legal and advocacy arm of the Israel Religious Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism. So speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: we will begin with a briefing from Tal Schneider Mann. Tal is a diplomatic and political correspondent for the Times of Israel, which many of us read, and she she's a converse in Israeli politics and foreign affairs. for leading outlets and previously served as a Washington DC correspondent reporting on US political and Middle East policy. Tal has been recognized for her integrity and innovation in journalism and her most recent fascinating book, which I have read, Israel's Women's Women's Warriors, which focuses on the stories of Israel female combat combat soldiers on October seventh. Tal has been covering the lead up to the elections extensively and will be provide provide us with expert analysis. Thank you very much, Tal for joining us. And I will turn it over to you. Thank you, Leslie. It's really nice to be here and be invited to brief you. as you said, elections are very, very close. We are 17 days away from election. Who would believe it? We will get here in one piece. After such tough and difficult years. And who would have thought that this government will stick together for a whole four years? This unheard of in Israel? it never happened on on regular times, let alone on this such such a war. So, the election will be conducted Tuesday, two weeks from the day after tomorrow, which is exactly four years after the previous election, and again, as a very experienced political correspondent. I've never experienced such a length of time between elections. so I think one and you know the most important issue and this will be a result of the four years gap between election is the fact that we may have unpreced unprecedented voter turnout. The voter turnout is the biggest factor that we don't know How to analyze so far. For example, we have 660,000 new voters. So 660, and then, new voters, age 18 to 20 to 22. They did not vote last time. And as you can imagine, in Israel's demography, many, many of them are ultra-orthodox or religious Zionists. And it's interesting w because again, when you look at the polling of how those the young people will vote, you see more of a centrist approach, but provided that the vo that the poster know how to analyze them, which is a big question. I think when you read the polls and you can read polls on the Times of Israel website or Zman Israel website, we conduct some of them independently ourselves. They are very, very confusing. And as a political correspondent, it's very hard to follow what direction to look with the polling. And right now it seems to be sort of you know equal to both sides. Not exactly it's not this is not exactly the wording for that, but we do see different polling from different directions almost every day. And I just wanna say that the polling is only correct for the day in which it was conducted. Sometimes it's yesterday, meaning if there is a poll tonight at Channel Eleven, for example, it was conducted during Sunday Sunday and and pro perhaps late Saturday, and therefore it only represents what people thought on this day. And it is unable to predict what's going to take place. next Tuesday. Specifically when you compare the system between United States and Israel, they're very, very different political system. Hence the polling may be wrong, not because the posters are so bad or you know unprofessional, but because it's very hard to predict what you know, very hard to analyze the bottom of the list. So you have big parties and you have small parties. And when you try to predict the smallest parties, it's hard to understand if they are under the threshold or above the threshold and the gap between under the threshold and above the threshold can be the gap between zero seats in the next Knesset to four seats in the next Knesset. This is because Israel's threshold is very high. It is three point twenty five percent of the eligible votes. Meaning, in when you do when you do polling among one thousand people, this can be five or four people here and there in in when you analyze the system and when you try to realize what's gonna take place with those little parties. So Gadi Eisencott is currently leading in the polls. Gadi Eisencott is the former chief IDF who lost his son, his fifth son, in the battle in Gaza on December of 2023. And he is of obviously agonizing and the entire country was agonizing with him for his you know grave loss and This is part of what he brings to the table is this type of atmosphere that you can see in Israel at the moment. Because as you all know, everybody knows someone who was killed in battle or kidnapped, or friends of friends, or high school bodies, and it's very it's it's it's very present in in Israel's atmosphere at the moment. And and and Gadi Idenkant embodies That with his own, you know, with his own loss, he also lost two nephews. So it's an incredible story to think of. And he's leading in the polls means that he has a better chances to form a coalition. So in Israel's system, it's very difficult. You are not winning the election on election night. Unlike the United States the American system or other democracies in Israel. When election takes place on polling day, on voting day, it's the beginning of another chapter in the election, after which you have to form a coalition. And this may take about twelve weeks to form a coalition. And only when you finish forming your coalition and you're being sworn sworn in as a new Prime Minister or returning Prime Minister, only then you know who won the election. Of obviously there is always a chance of a landslide to each side, and then obviously we could tell immediately if someone won or lost the election. But as we've seen in Israel in recent years, it's this is not the case. We will probably will have massive problem understanding on October twenty-eighth who won the election. It's not, you know, it's not going to be a clear cut. So when I say Ghadi Isenkot is leading, I mean that he has better chances to form a coalition yet. He may not have a majority. in Israel you have one hundred and twenty-seats. In order to gain a majority, you need sixty-one. You are allowed under the law to form a coalition and to swear in a government with the number of fifty-eight or fifty-seven, or as long as it as this is majority. So if the other side has only fifty-one and your side has fifty-eight, you can swear in a government and it's called a narrow government. In Israel's history, the obviously It happens because some of the members of for example, representative of the Arab society may sit out and not support a government, yet they may not topple it. Meaning one side may have fifty-one, the other side may may have, let's say, fifty-seven, and the rest of them are absentees. We recently heard that even the ultra-orthodox may play as an absentee for Isencot, meaning They will not vote against him, but they will not support him. They may just sit out. If this happens, it's it's probably it's a new it's a new era, but again, it depends on the coalition agreement. So sometimes in order to have those parties, such as ANRA parties or ultra-orthodox, to have them sit out and be play abs the absentee card, you have to give them something. You have to play it, you have to give them political. benefit. So this is the reason I'm saying that Gaddy Isencott, stands better chances to form a coalition, but we don't see that he is able to form a majority government. And it never happened in Israel. We had minority government in the past, but those governments started as majority government and then they deteriorated in a way to minority during their term. We never had one Being sworn in. What happened in the past when Netanyahu was not able to swore in governments, he just dissolved the Knesset on his own initiative. That happened for five times actually, between 2019 and 2022, until he was able to get 64 seats. So this scenario of dissolving the 26th Knesset, which has not yet chosen, but will be chosen in two weeks. The scenario of dissolving them and going for a rerun, or it's not a rerun, it's actually a new election. that that may may happen, may take place around May or June of 2027. That's the worst scenario for the Israelis at the moment, because we are still attacked, we are under a war, we are, you know, security is number one issue. We are very, very concerned from Iran and from Gaza and from Lebanon and from Yemen. So being in a state of election and an uncertainty alone for so many months, this is very bad scenario. Having said that, it's also a scenario in which Netanyahu stays as an interim prime minister. Interim prime minister means that he is he has the authority of a prime minister, foreign affairs, security and other authorities. His hands are are more tied. He cannot He cannot pass, he can pass a budget, but he has restraint. He cannot appoint people. But he may continue. he has the authority and and the and the responsibility to to keep on serving as a prime minister, and that can take a long time. That's another extension of nine months for his leadership. and the problem with that worst case scenario is that no one can tell you that you want. you're gonna have a different result because if you go to another election in in April or May of 2027, what gives you that we will have a new a new you know outcome. so as I said earlier, I think the voter turnout is crucial. We see already in the polling as as as we understand right now, maybe an historic voter turnout in the Arab society. That's interesting. when voter turnout at the general public is between sixty-nine to seventy-one during those all five elections campaigns that I just mentioned, the Arab Society voter and turnout at the same years went down to forty-five at one instance and up to sixty at another instance. So sixty it was only once. Most of the time it was around fifty. And then it went down to forty-five at one of those instances. So If we think that the general bordernout may be even 75 to 78 this time, an Arab society bordernout may be even 65 or 68, this is an historic precedent for the Arab society. It seems very likely that this will take place. It's already something that we can see in some of the polls within some of the polsters. Also We do know that in areas where they support supporters of the of the change bloc, meaning supporters of of all opposition's parties, there is also vo high very high voter turnout. This was always the case in Israel's history. So I mean it it's not it's nothing new. It's basically a prediction that tells you That there is no much room to maneuver there. Because if you have already, let's say example in my city, if you already have 80% voter turnout, when you try to reach out and bring more voters, there's not too many people to to add on. Whereas in conservative and kind of how do you say that lower income conservative groups and and sometimes right-wing cliquid supporters, you usually have a little bit less of a voter turnout. You do have room to maneuver. Another interesting phenomenon is the ultra-orthodox. In the society of the ultra-orthodox, historically, very high voter turnout. And right now, some of the commentators and people who are from within the ultra-orthodox society. They predict a lower voter turnout because of a huge disappointment they have from the current government. And I I find it hard to believe because usually when we get to election day in Nebraq or Modi in elite or Jerusalem, you see these people coming out to the streets with their cars and they y with kind of you know voice enhancement, a megaphone. they use it in the streets and they say the Rebbe called you to get out. Rebbe said Reb Rebbe's and the Rebis, they get into that and they send all of these messages through WhatsApp or through S SMS and through the synagogues. They have a very strong and reliable system of engagement with their own public, calling it from schools, from synagogues, from social social events, from re gathering with the rabbis, they call out to everybody, they they say the rabbi said you must go. So usually we don't see a lower voter turnout in those society. Again, some people on on their side say it's it's time it it's it's going to be different now, but you know, I I I I find it hard to predict and I think the pollsters are unable to predict that. Another interesting phenomenon this year is the Israel is abroad. Unlike most of democracies around the world, Israelis who live and and have Israeli citizenship or live outside of the country are not allowed to vote in their own the places where they live at. They are only eligible to vote if they fly into Israel and use their citizenship to vote inside Israel. because of the many of those people's high tech people high-tech executives, high-tech work people who work in the high tech, doctors, nurses, medical professionals, I I would say people who could afford themselves to get out of to change, you know, to live the country through the years and have those the resources, and they are more likely to vote left or center. And there is a huge effort to bring them back home for voting. And we do know many people bought tickets and are planning to to just fly over. you probably have seen the coverage. There is a lot of coverage to that on on the Israeli press. This may come up to maybe, the number may come up to around 40,000 or maybe 50,000 people. That is one seat or one seat, a little bit more than one seat. It's interesting to watch if this will actually take place. And we do know also that they were not they're not included in the polling at the moment because they are out of the country. So, maybe people that are coming to vote and exercising their own citizenship right. It's very, very interesting. It's a new phenomenon. I think this phenomenon will not stick if we have another election in April or May of 2027. It's just a one-time show to the way I see it, because it's a very expensive and almost impossible operation to to conduct more than once. so when you ask the Israelis what are the issues on the table, and I'm sure you've been following Israeli news, so the Israeli public is still highly traumatized and highly, you know, agonizing over October seventh massacre. It's not, you know, even even though it's been three years, the people they want, you know, when you when you ask people one of the biggest issues is how to investigate the the the huge massacre. And you have like Around 70% support for national inquiry committee. This is one of the issues on the table for the election. So even when you ask people from the right wing, and they could support or left wing, they they many of them say, We want to see this committee headed by a Supreme Court judge being set up. but you know, you can't vote just on that. You vote basically you vote on security people, you know, when they vote. The the big question undermind was who is going to be the leader that will protect me and my livelihood and my life, not just my livelihood, of course, my life here in Israel, on the border, towards Iran, towards Lebanon, who can negotiate things with with Lebanon, who can, most of the people in Israel, including from the the left, the Democrats, they do not agree for a Palestinian. state at the moment, the two state solution. even on on the left. Of course, Nathaniel plays that card very strongly against the left and against Isencott. But really when you ask people from from this side of the of the political map, it's not a question for them, but they are willing to vote on based on their security understanding. And I think that and I think that you know many people from the right wing still believe That Netanyahu will be better on security, not looking back at what happened, but looking at the future of what can he do? How come they think that? Because they judge him for for what he did since October eighth, twenty twenty three, up until today. So they take into account the the massive, you know, war that we were at with We were with Iran, they think that it was successful, they think that the issue with Lebanon, that Netanyahu achieved a lot, they credit him for that. And when you when you try to ask Israelis how come you still support him, they say not because of October seventh, but because the way he was pulling himself together on October eighth and started to conduct the the business correctly and we we we will give him a chance to to do more. This is the basic core understanding. I think my time limit is up. I'm not completely sure. Should I stop talking or talk talk a little bit more? organizers. I have five more minutes. So I will tell you also that so as I said, the issues on the table, as I said, is the in national inquiry, investigation, the security situation, and who do you trust to conduct your security in the near future? but also there is this you know more issues. obviously the draft, the military draft, it had it it's completely connected to the issue of security, because as long as the ultra-orthodox are not part of of this operation, people in, that are secular from right and left are serving hundreds of days of reserve duty. And it's it's it's not just unfair, it's very, very dangerous. They want more of a common life. And the ultra orthodox were are really detached from that. And Netanyahu has to sit with them because this is his coalition partner. So that's another Big big factor is the ultra-orthodox autonomy and their the way they are not part of this country, meaning as per security, as per workforce, as per volunteering and and getting you know lots of subsidies. So it's an economic issue and a social issue and also security issue. Another issue that is on the table is the judicial overhaul. Netanyahu's people go on on the radio and they promise to continue with that with full force. To take to strip the powers from the Supreme Court, to fire the Attorney General, and so on and so forth. I think it's completely clear to everybody that if this is the case, the judicial overhaul, the judicial coup will be, in Fnatania re-elected, it will be fast and you know strong, fast and strong in in in in those terms. economy and housing and transportation and education. are on the table, but but not as strong as you may expect because it is on the table. The the way, we had this fly Dubai event, for example, which brought up brought out the dysfunctional, dysfunctional Ministry of Transportation in Israel. So people are complete were completely ashamed by the way things were going with the transportation. It goes the same for education, massive failure results for Israeli kids in high school. Part of the reason, of course, is this kids, not just high school but also other schools, kids sat in shelters and safe rooms for you know, basically on and off for three years. So I mean their results in schooling is is disastrous and You can blame it on the government, but you can also blame it on the enemy. you have to be truthful about that. It's not just, the government was, doing some stuff, but it was really horrible for the kids. If you have, relatives in this country, it's it's the kids had to go through. I mean, you know, you have massive areas where the, you know, they were internally displaced, had no homes, homes shattered, people sat in in in shelters for such a long time. crime. Crime is big issue in Israel. And obviously on the Arab society, voter turnout is because of murder rate in the Arab society. So that's you know basically the the number one issue for Arab voters is to vote on the basics of who is going to take care of crimes. This time around, it doesn't even make the promises he made last time. He made huge promises to the Arab society in 2022. This time around, it does not campaign in the Arab society. at all. It doesn't make them promises. They are highly disappointed by Benvir. It comes as no surprise to you that this is one of the most failing ministers of the Israeli government and the competition is very, very tough. But you know Ben it's a complete you know fallout. I mean he promised security to the people and nothing nothing happened and people were just murdered on the streets on a day in a daylight. So that's another huge issue and and again it's voter drive very strongly in the Arab society. I will wrap up and say that if we will see sixty five percent voter within for the Muslim society, it is definitely because of the crime in their s in their streets. And that's it. speaker-3: Al, thank you so much for that wealth of information and insights. I think my favorite question that has been sent in so far is any chance this will ever get less complicated, that Israel will move to a less complicated system. But I think you've really given us a roadmap for how to understand the news as we receive it over the next couple of weeks before the election and then during the negotiations afterwards. So thank you. Hello everyone. I'm Shoshona Dwek, co-chair of Artsinu, the global Zionist arm of the reform movement. I head up together with Paolo Kolikovsky, our representation in the World Zionist Congress and the national institutions of Israel. It is my pleasure to welcome to this worldwide audience Anna Kazlanski, who's the CEO of the IMPJ, the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism. And Orly Eras Dichovsky, the executive director of Iraq, the Israel Religious Action Center. Just by the numbers, our reform movement in Israel is much bigger than many folks realize around the world. We're more than 70 years old. We have over 55 congregations and communities, over 145 rabbis ordained from our Israeli seminary alone, including a lot of rabbis who are women. And in a recent survey, over 7% of adult Israeli Jewish society. Identifies with the reform movement. That's more than 500,000 people from within Israeli society. Anna and the IMPJ are literally changing the Israeli understanding of the beautiful diversity of Judaism. And Iraq is the IMPJ's public policy and legal advocacy arm. From committee testimony and legislative work at the Knesset to legal battles in all areas of civil rights and grassroots work in the field. IREC stands up for pluralism, for civil rights. For our equal status and recognition, for equality, for democracy, and they stand against hate. So these two leaders are really at the forefront of building an Israel that is truly for all of us. So we invite you to continue submitting questions using the QA button. And remember, of course, that our discussion today is nonpartisan. So you will not get an answer to the question of is there one party that more aligns with our values? That being said, Anna and then Ourly, Tal described this parliamentary system, which starts with election, but also has negotiation of coalition agreement. Now, those negotiations are already underway. People are doing pre-negotiations. And they cover not just parties and ministers and who's going to sit where, but values and positions on issues that become part of that coalition agreement as an agreement as a government comes together. So can you each share with us, Anna, first and then Ourly? some of the values and positions that you're raising, Anna, with respect to the priorities of the Israeli movement, and or le with respect to the matters that Iraq is advocating for every day, from the Knesset to the courthouse to the court of public opinion. speaker-1: Thank you, Shoshana. Let me start with something that when we're talking about what values you can actually see right right now outside many of our Reformed congregations across Israel. we've put large banners with a simple message in Hebrew that's saying Uvakart Uvcharta Vashivion. Choose equality. And it's a deliberate reference to the biblical words, choose life. And it's a call to participate in our democracy. And it's also important, an important Jewish statement. So we want Israelis to understand that equality and pluralism and democratic values are not separate from our Judaism and they are an expression over it. and as we approach these elections, we have As you mentioned, two sets of priorities that are deeply connected. One is about what our reform movement needs in order to grow and flourish. And the other is about the kind of Israeli society we want to help build, more liberal, democratic, and socially resilient. so I just wanna focus on three practical priorities, and Orly will definitely elaborate. first it's a fair access to public resources. Israel invests substantial public funds in religious institutions, but the vast majority goes to orthodox institutions. And most of our congregations still don't have permanent buildings of their own, and our rabbis and communities don't receive the public support they deserve. So we're not asking for special treatment, we're asking for fair treatment. funding for congregations, community buildings, and rabbinic positions. And because if if we want more Israelis to experience liberal Judaism, we need to give our congregations the actual infra infrastructure to serve them. The second is related to education. Most Israeli children in that grow up in the public school system They know very little about the different expressions of Jewish life around the world and almost nothing about reform and other non-Orthodox Judaism here in Israel. So we want to change that. If an Orthodox rabbi is invited into a public school, a reform rabbi should have this reform or conservative should have the same opportunity. And public funding should be available for educational programs that expose Israeli children to the diversity of Jewish life. We want every Israeli child to grow up knowing that there is more than one authentic way to be Jewish and that Jewish identity and democratic values can strengthen one another. And third, rebuilding and strengthening the relationship between Israel and world Jewry. Even before October 7th, we were seeing growing distance between parts of liberal Jewish communities and Israel. And since October 7th, that relationship has become even more complicated and painful. So I believe our movement is uniquely positioned to help bridge that distance because we share a Jewish language and many of the same values. But in order to move beyond these declarations about the importance of Israel diaspora relations, we need concrete programs backed by real government funding. So, for example, we want government investment in long-term partnerships between reform congregations in Israel and liberal Jewish communities abroad, partnerships that bring people together through shared projects and educational programs and relationships. And we want funding for delegations of Israeli educators and public figures and opinion leaders to visit liberal Jewish communities around the world and experience Jewish life firsthand and build relationships that continue after the visit. We want to invest direct in direct connections between young Israelis and young reformed Jews in the diaspora through youth exchanges and Leadership programs and joint experiences. And I think there's an important point here. The Israeli government already invests substantial resources in programs that connect Israel with Orthodox Jewish institutions and communities around the world, not so much with liberal communities around the world. And we believe it is time to make a comparable investment in relationship with liberal Jewish communities, which represents such a significant part of world Jewry. And Orly will of course speak about legal and policy changes we are seeking. I want to emphasize what those changes should make possible. Our goal is not simply to make it Israel where religious pluralism is legally permitted, but also in Israel where it is visible and accessible and publicly supported and part of everyday life. speaker-3: Thank you, Anna. Orley? speaker-1: Yeah. Hello everyone. It's really wonderful to be here with all of you. so yeah, I I want to just start by saying something positive, which is I think the realization that the whole liberal cap in Israel, not only our movement, realized that we must be ready for the next government to be very very to come up with very concrete proposals to include in the next coalition agreements with a clear budget attached to them. This is already a really important development that we have actually learned from the previous governments here in Israel, the change government. To which the liberal camp came very unprepared. And in contrary to this, we see that this current government that is now ending its term came very prepared. And you can remember that the justice minister proposed their judicial coup program just a couple of days after the government was established. So it's clear they came very ready, and this is why we have to be very ready in what needs to be changed and how we can really seize the opportunities. and this is why we've been working for a few months now already to really bring about specific proposals and to be in touch with different parties in order to propose this to them. And this includes following on what Anna has said, not only promising you know, funding for the movements, for the liberal movements for reform and conservative Judaism, but also trying to think of how we can really formally secure the status of reformed Judaism in Israel in order to really bring about the major change. In the status of our movement in Israel, because as we have been suffering from discrimination in a variety of contexts. So really thinking about how not only to address this discrimination, but also to bring about really an organizational change. and also, of course, to see how we can protect reform communities from attacks and incitement that we have been seeing, especially in the last few months. we are obviously talking about the Western Wall. Demanding the implementation of the Western Wall Agreement and Compromise, which we have tried to push during the last government, and we are definitely demanding this to be implemented right now. we are talking about our converts. As you know, our conversions have been recognized, but there are a lot of barriers which are posed by the state, by the interior ministry, in front of our converts, and we demand to actually remove those barriers in order to really allow our converts. to be able to receive status according to the law of return. We are talking about the issue of marriage and divorce, which is a huge issue in Israel, demanding freedom of choice in marriage. This is a topic that is highly supported by a you know a very high percentage of Israelis all across the political spectrum. and nevertheless, as you know, we don't have freedom of choice in marriage because the only form of marriage which the state recognizes is orthodox marriage through the chief rabbinate. So we are demanding a change in this regard. We are also demanding a change on the issue of civil burial, which is actually there's a law that actually promises Israelis to be able to choose how they're going to be buried, whether in an orthodox ceremony or in a different ceremony. But this is not high hardly implemented and we demand that budgets would be allocated to make sure that this law is implemented. We've heard Anna speak about the presence of liberal Judaism in the education system. And this is definitely something that should be pushed for. And also in the IDF, the IDF also presents different programs of Jewish identity to soldiers. And most of them only present Orthodox Judaism and not really give the whole spectrum of Jewish identities. But beyond the issue of our specific rights, obviously we want to address some unjust phenomena in Israeli society. Two of the most important ones that we have been fighting for for many years are are exclusion of women, gender segregation in the public sphere, and racism. So we are devising a series of proposals around those issues and also demanding to give funding to shared society programs that we believe are tremendously important, especially during the last few years that have been very, very hard and a lot of hate. being spread within different sectors of his value society, especially between Jews and Arabs. we also, of course, demand to repeal the anti-democratic legislation that this government has passed. Fortunately, they have not passed everything that they wanted to pass within the judicial coup, but they have passed quite a few very problematic laws, such as a basic law Torah study that grants basically puts Torah study above and beyond the Principle of equality in an effort to grant subsidies to the ultra-orthodox men who do not serve in the army, legislation expanding gender subrogation in higher education, and a law basically expanding the jurisdiction of rabinical courts that rule according to the orthodox interpretation of Jewish law to allow them to deal with civil matters. So all of those laws should be repealed, but it's not enough to repeal them. As I said, I think we do we should do more. than simply undo the damage that have been brought to Israel democracy and to the values of religious pluralism and equality. And we should really think about how we use this opportunity to create a new new opportunities to make meaningful and positive changes on issues of religion state in Israel. speaker-3: Thank you, Orley. And so I want to ask from both sides of the world, from inside of Israel, Orley, what are you doing aside from the negotiations? And we hear you talking about the thinking further ahead this time and being prepared for whichever way the coalition gets set up and working with the parties now to put forward these values, democracy, equality, pluralism, and all of the different specific ways you just said. But what else are you doing to help prepare our reform congregants, our reform movement participants and and supporters for the election or or to help in the election? And Anna, I'm gonna throw the question to you, in the other direction, which is what does responsible and engaged partnership look like from our side, from from the global Jewish community in support of this election? Obviously. Starting with the question of that that Tal had already said about those who are eligible to actually participate in the vote. but but Orly, first, what are y'all doing inside of Israel? And then Anna, what can we be doing? speaker-1: Yes, so one of the most important thing challenges that we're facing now in this upcoming elections is protecting the integrity of the electoral process. and I should mention that we have never had or hardly had problems with voting rights or access to the ballot in Israel. there is there was obviously still is an issue of the case of residents of unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev that they don't have access to polling stations. to close polling stations. But in general, we did not have an issue around those issue, those issues. But this time for the first time we are going to face serious concerns about the election, about the fairness of the elections. So we have been for the past several months encouraging members of our communities around the country to get involved in initiatives to protect the integrity of the elections. And this includes mostly volunteering as observers at polling stations and we've had a lot of people volunteer and that's meaning you actually are inside the polling stations to make sure there are no frauds and everything is going according to the law. Some people are going to be present outside polling stations to help de-escalate situations because we are afraid that there's going to be a lot of, you know, intimidation and violence around polling stations. And the other thing that is really I think a global issue now is obviously the concern of fake news and disinformation being, you know disseminated around and we know that's an a significant risk and it is really important for people to know to identify false information to avoid falling for those spins and not to spread this this information. we believe and I think we've already said that this really upcoming elections are going to be the most crucial and consequential elections in our history and this is why we are encouraging of course as many people to vote as possible. We've heard from Tal The issue of the voting rate is going might actually, decide the elections. And this is why it is important to ask really all of our communities to vote and to ask everybody around them to vote. And we are planning to dedicate the Shabbat just before the elections to this issue, to ask rabbis to speak about about about this, and of course, encourage every person who can vote to go out and vote. Because whatever you know our political opinions are, we have to participate in this democratic process. This is our civic responsibility and we call it our mitzvah, this is our commandment in this upcoming elections. speaker-3: Absolutely. As we say, our voice is our vote during the during an election period. And if we don't raise it, that's on us. Anna? speaker-1: Yes, and thank you. So first I want to challenge the idea that speaking up about Israel is somehow overstepping. you are not outsiders commenting on a country that has nothing to do with you. You are part of the Jewish people, and the decisions made in Israel have consequences for our shared Jewish future. And at the same time, Israelis are the ones who live here, who vote here. And we experience the immediate consequences of those decisions. So I think that we need to recognize both of these truths. and it doesn't mean that we all have to agree on everything, but we have to listen to one another and remain deeply committed. and your voices matter. I also want to say before I Say concrete things that your voices matter not only when there is an election on crisis, we care about your voice when we are discussing the kind of Jewish state Israel should be the place of Jewish pluralism in that state, and and our shared responsibility for for the future of Israel. So, what can we do? What can you do this month? I have a few practical suggestions. first of all, if you are a congregational read leader, reach out to your sister congregation or partner community in Israel, send a message of encouragement, arrange a conversation between your rabbis or lay leaders, or even between young people in your communities. if you have friends or family in Israel, reach out to them, ask how they're feeling about the elections and about the country's future. Share what matters to you as well. Again, not to tell them how to vote, but to remind them that they are not alone in caring about Israel's future. There's another very practical point. We already spoke, Tal mentioned that Israelis that are abroad unless they're schlichim or diplomats, on election day, they cannot vote unless they are. in Israel. So if you know Israeli citizens abroad who are eligible to vote and didn't make a decision to come to Israel yet, please, please convince them and encourage them to look into coming home to participate in the election. I also want to encourage everyone to sign the URJ's call to shared responsibility ahead of Israel's national elections. I really appreciate this initiative because it recognizes something very fundamental that our destinies are intertwined and our responsibility for one another does not stop at at the national borders. And above all, my message is don't step away from Israel because the conversation has become difficult. Stay engaged, stay connected, and please see ourselves not only as supporters of our work but as our partners in shaping our shared Jewish future. speaker-3: Thank you. This time has just absolutely flown by. And I know that many of you who are listening will very much want to come to any other time that Anna or Orley, and if we ever have Tal as well again, but are sharing these insights about the positions of the reform movement and how we're actually doing the work. We are speaker-1: So we speaker-3: we are going to be able to take a couple of questions from the audience now, but we are not going to get to all of them, some of them because They are asking for a partisan answer, which we cannot do here. But we're going to do our best to answer questions in our collective WhatsApp space as well, which is called the Big Tent. And the link to that so that you can join us there and be part of this ongoing conversation is going to be in the chat now. And every week you're going to be able to access there and to sign up for the direct newsletters of Artsenu, of ArtsyUS, of the IMPJ. And also IRAC's the Pluralist. And that includes the Pluralist podcast. So you'll be able to catch the recordings there or to sign up to be able to get them regularly but by subscription. So we're also gonna put the recording of this webinar there. and like I said, we're gonna take the questions and we're gonna provide answers to the best of our ability in the Big Ten. So that link is in the chat now. can we have Tal rejoin us? Now, also to answer some questions because I want to pick up on one theme that kind of came through everywhere and then showed up in the questions, which Tal, you spoke about Arab turnout. And Anna and Orley have spoken about the shared society work, was incredibly creative position of dedication to laying the foundation for peace and working together by focusing our congregations on. maintaining good relationships through these difficult times and even new and stronger relationships with the Arab communities that that that we live together with. So the question that was raised, do you see any space for an Arab party in an ultimate coalition agreement or ultimately in the government that gets formed? speaker-0: Right, so if you talk about Likud, it's probably the answer is no. They are they are completely opposing this concept of of church society. If you talk to Eisencott, is some of his coalition partners, such as Lieberman, say absolutely no. But Isencott, by the way, I have an interview with him in English in The Times of Israel, it was just published less than a week ago on October 7th. The interview went up specifically for October 7th. And we asked him so many questions about, crime in the Arab society and more. And he has fo four conditions in order to join in any type of partner. He says not just Arabs, he refers also to the ultra-orthodox. It has to be there has to be a draft, a mandatory draft. if you are unable to go to IDF because you are a Muslim and Arab, you are unwilling to participate in that, you should go to civil service. And Mansu Abbas chairs the Islamic movement party already said that's completely fine with him. You also have to recognize the values, the merits under the Israel Declaration of Independence. by the way, one of those merits is equality in Israel for all, people from all groups, including, you know, it says specifically equal for Arabs and Jews. also you have to recognize that Israel is a democratic and Jewish state or a Jewish and democratic state. That is, tough one, but I think Manswob has already said in the past in a statement that he understands the Jewish fabric of this country and he's not challenging that in any way. And the fourth the fourth factor he said, you have to agree to that Hamas is a terror organization and that you we should, you know, Eliminate the terror organization of Hamas. And you know, again, you know, it's it's I don't know what Matsur Abbas is going to do. I mean, basically I don't think I think he he recognized that Khabbas is a terror organization, of course, but elimination is the wording, I I don't know, I don't know what's going to take place day after the election. But according to Isencot, if if Mansur Abbas says all of those things, then he can be a part of the coalition. Now, having said that. Some of the coalition partners, such as Liberal Man, would not want him in. Maybe also there is a small party called Res Reservist by Yoazendel across the threshold, they may also say we are disqualifying once. That's that's a problem. I just wanted to add some, you know, you know, a personal story about church society that if I have like one more minute for that, I was with my mother on in on emergency care last saturday because she felt she's eighty fish she didn't feel good we went to a special specialist emergency room at night and all of the people that provided with the services the medical services from the doctors down to the technician were all Arabs and she lives she lives in central Israel so all of the clients were Jewish and all of the all the professionals were Arab. That was that's is a striking event. To any Israelis. So when you look at the shared society, this is what people from the Ram Party and other people. I interviewed also Yoav Segalovich, number two, on Man Surah Bas list, and he said the ecosystem that we see in the hospitals, this is what we need to have on a larger scale. Because if we can save life and and be medic medication from you know, from a tutel to technicians to nurses to doctors. We can do that in those bub bubble of those small hospitals or small clinics, then why not the entire country? And this is the model for us for share of li lives. And I think it's very, very clever because if you are a Jewish or an Arab and you look at those hospitals and you see yourself in a time of need and a time of dire, then this is a good model for the rest of the country. speaker-3: Thank you. That is it, that there are such models and that our movement is committed to doing this work and even received honor and recognition for the depth of the work that that we're doing in Israel on shared society. That's one of the places that hope comes from. but there are also many challenges, and I'll just throw out what sort of one last. speaker-1: Yeah, can can I actually address that too? 'Cause I think it's important to say that we have been at Iraq fighting racism for a long time. Actually a decade ago, we published a report call called Heroes of Health, actually talking about the coexistence within the health system and saying how we should replicate it in other systems. But since then we've seen a growing delegitimization toward the Palestinian society within Israel and obviously outside of Israel. And I think our work both against racism and for shared society has just become all the more important during the last few years. And we are definitely talking about how Palestinian citizens of Israel should be treated with complete equality in the Jewish and democratic state of Israel, not only because this is what should happen in a democracy, but because all of us were created in the image of God and therefore deserve equality and dignity. This is definitely something that is now on the agenda. within the the the elections and I saw one of the questions people asking when when Anna said we choose equality, whether we talk only about Jews or also that are Arabs and of course we're talking about all Israelis and basically all human beings. We are for really equal rights for all this is a major part of what the reform movement in Israel believes and what Iraq has been doing for many years. speaker-3: Thank you. All right. I think that that given the time, I am gonna have to close this part of the conversation, but I do want to say this. There's a question about international impacts and about you know what's happening with anti-Semitism around the world and the impact of that. And the bottom line is how, as Anna said, we're inextricably intertwined. That at this time of this election is different from any other time in Israel's history from that perspective of our awareness of how important we are to each other around the world and within Israel, and and how much we affect each other. and the invitation to raise our voices, the invitation to sign the the letter that's a a voice of global jewelry. Of what our values are at this time, but also that as you heard in the expression about the signs that are hanging outside of the Israeli Reform movement congregations and really about every way that Anna and Orley have shared today, that it is because of our Judaism. It is because we are Reformed Jews, it is through our Judaism that we are living these values. So I think that with that, I am now going to pass it to Shelley. Thank you all so much. Wow. speaker-1: So Dash Hashanah and and all of you. I am Shelley Nisley Graff, and I'm honored to serve as chair of the North American Board of the Union for Reform Judaism. Among other roles of the URJ, we lead over 800 diverse congregations throughout North America. And and listening to our conversation today, I I could just say, wow, what a tremendous amount of information. And perspective and wisdom and priorities was shared with us. And thank you all. It is my honor to get to work with our movement partners here today to advance our values as the reform movement and to advocate for democracy and equality and religious pluralism in our beloved Israel. And and thank you, Anna, for for sharing with us what we here in North America. Can do. That was so important to Daura Bah for that. And I look forward to seeing several of today's speakers at our upcoming URJ Biennial in just two short months in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from December 10th through 13th. And I hope that I will get to see, I'm going to say all, or at least many of you there as well. At Biennial, we will learn from and with each other. We will pray together. We will sing and dance together. And most importantly, we will be a strong community of committed Reformed Jews who care deeply about Reform Judaism, our congregations, our communities, a democratic and pluralistic Israel, the next generation, and frankly, our world. Conversations around Israel will figure prominently out. Has been robust, and so I encourage you to please register soon. You'll see the link to register is now posted in the chat. Finally, before we close today, I would like to share a prayer composed by Rabbi Oshwat Morat. A prayer for peace during the election season. May it be your will, our God and God of our ancestors, to let your Shekinah dwell among us a spirit of peace, fellowship, and sacred connection, especially at this time as we seek leadership for our state. Shekhinah, source of life, place in the heart of every citizen wisdom, insight, and good discernment to choose leaders who are truly worthy. People of integrity who walk in righteousness and speak truth in their hearts, who seek the peace of the entire community and act for the good will of all. Please God, plant within us a Havaki Nam, unconditional love, and guard us from Lashanhara, harmful speech, hatred, envy, and division that is not Lasham Shemayam for the sake of heaven. Remove from us all anger and strife so that we may gather together, speak to one another, and deliberate with true listening. Honor and patience. May we learn to fulfill the great principle of Veahaftal Rayaha Kamocha, love your fellow as yourself, and direct our steps toward partnership in building our shared future. May we complete this season filled with hope and devotion to labor for Takunalam repairing the world for the peace of our state and for the peace of all creation, and may this verse be fulfilled in our days from Psalms one hundred twenty two. May there be peace within your walls, serenity within dwellings. For the sake of my kin and companions I will speak peace concerning you. Amen. Amen and amen. Shalom, my friends, and shavuatov.