The Blogs: 83 Days to Elections: What We Need to Know

Before any voter here in Israel enters the polling place on October 27^th, it should be clear to every citizen what the platform of the party proposing to be elected contains. Not only that, but also who else besides the party leader will be voted in as part of the slate, what are their individual qualifications and how were they chosen? We have a right to know all of that.

One would think that in a democracy all of this would be provided to the voters as a matter of course. Yet this is not the case here in Israel. Truth be told I cannot even remember the last time any party ran for office and provided this kind of information to the electorate.

In order to address that fault line in our process, a few of us have developed a questionnaire which we will submit, in Hebrew, to each party leader with a request that it be completed and returned so it can be shared with the voters before election day.

Following are the topics covered by the survey.

Campaign

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By what method was your list of potential MKs compiled?
Please provide a brief biography of each person on the candidate list and their qualifications to serve.
Will you pledge to conduct a positive campaign regardless what other parties may or may not do?
When you are looking to fill cabinet positions in the new government, what will be your philosophy? Will you be willing, for example, to bring in a cabinet minister based on qualifications rather than simply party affiliation?

Program

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Will you publish a plan of action (i.e. your party platform) in all relevant languages with highest priority first, second, third, etc.?
Are you committed to electoral reform? If so, what framework would you be willing to sponsor?
Are you in favor of a constitution for Israel? How will you move that forward given the history of roadblocks?
Do you favor universal draft of all able bodied 18 year olds regardless of gender? If not, please explain your position.
Which groups could do alternate national service in place of serving in the IDF?
Which groups would be excused entirely, if any?
How will you enforce such a program and prevent civil strife?
What provisions would you advocate for concerning judicial reform or would you simply leave the current system in place?
How will you tackle settler violence and crime in the Arab sector?
How will you attempt to further integrate Bedouin and Arab sectors into the general Israeli community?
Are you concerned about a new intifada emanating from Judea and Samaria? If so, how do you propose to neutralize the threat?

Foreign policy

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What policies will you enact to deal with Iran and its proxies: Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis?
What will you do with our troops in Lebanon and Gaza? Will they remain or be withdrawn?
What will your policy be towards the US, particularly our dependence on America and the alienation of both the Democratic party and a large swathe of the American public?
What will your policy be towards the EU and the current anti-Israel government in the UK, Spain and other locations?
In our region how will you deal with Syria, Turkey, Qatar, and the Saudis?
Will you try to expand the Abraham accords and, if so, how?

The cynics among us with whom I’ve shared this idea have already decided that none of the party leaders will respond to this request. Yet if that ends up being the case, the question we need to ask ourselves is, do any of them deserve our vote? If they are not prepared to share their thoughts about the future of the country and the qualification of its leaders, that is prima facie evidence that they don’t deserve our votes.

Nevertheless, I am an optimist but with great concern about our future here. If someone wants to lead this country and is similarly concerned, then he or she should be willing to respond, to have that committed to print and to expect that, if elected, we will all hold the elected people accountable to the promises made.

The country deserves nothing less from its leadership and the electorate has every right to demand answers in return for our votes. Nobody should be able to run for office on the unsupported promise that things will be done differently or that the results will be better than in the past. We need to know, before we vote, what the goals of each candidate are and how they expect to achieve them. Nothing less should be acceptable. If we do not demand this then we, ourselves, will be the irresponsible parties should things turn out badly.