Elections 2026: Interview: Otzma Yehudit

As mentioned in the previous posts, this is a restart of this blog, as we now “settle” into year two of our Aliyah. This will be our first Israeli election, which seems hard to believe. As a lobbyist in the States, I would reach out to credible candidates in each party (or whichever side was the non-incumbent) to meet & share our organizational priorities. While I’m not a lobbyist here, I do want to hear directly from all the major “lists” and parties. And, I want to figure out where I can work with whoever wins, whoever is in the government, and whoever is in the opposition. As a “new” Oleh, there’s a lot to do! Israel’s economy needs us. Its public diplomacy needs us. And the Jewish people, here and abroad, need us. So I reached out to the “big” parties. This conversation is with Yishai Fleisher, of Otzma Yehudit. I can’t actually remember when I first met Yishai, but we have been in the same or close enough circles, similar professions, and the like, for some time. I appreciate him taking the time, as well as Rachel Moore, the party’s communications advisor, for making this happen, even during the very last hours of the campaign. Now, to the questions:

Since October 7, Israel has been remarkably united and, at the same time, before & now, we seem deeply divided and fighting amongst ourselves on fundamental issues. Israel isn’t unique in this; it’s happening politically all over the world, where people seem to have lost the ability to disagree, lose elections or legislative battles gracefully, and move on to govern, work, & live together. Is it something we can fix?

Yishai Fleisher:

I don’t think the problem is disagreement. Jews have argued for three thousand years, and the Talmud is basically a record of arguments we chose to keep. The problem is that we’ve started treating the people on the other side of an argument as if they were the enemy. On October 7 and in the weeks after, we saw who the enemy actually is, and the whole country, right and left, religious and secular, showed up for each other. Reservists who had been protesting on Kaplan Street the week before were the first ones to report for duty.

So yes, it can be fixed, and the fix starts with confidence in who we are. A nation that is sure of its identity can afford to argue! We can have sharp debates about policy, because nobody fears the debate will tear the country apart. Unity doesn’t mean agreeing. It means accepting an election result as legitimate when your side loses, then getting back to work.

Judicial reform and the draft. Let’s take a deeper dive at this. First it was judicial reform, now it’s the Haredi draft. On both, most Israelis probably agree on a lot, yet the loudest or most extreme voices on every side make any compromise or deal hard to negotiate & even harder to implement. How do we resolve these “third-rail” issues?

Yishai Fleisher:

Both issues come down to the same question: who decides in a democracy? My view, and Otzma Yehudit’s, is that the elected Knesset should make the laws and the courts should interpret them. Today a small, self-selecting legal establishment holds more power over Israeli life than in almost any other Western democracy. That’s why we want Knesset hearings for Supreme Court nominees, a real say for elected officials in judicial appointments, and limits on the High Court’s power to strike down legislation. Americans already have most of this. Their Senate confirms judges in public hearings.

On the Haredi draft, we oppose arresting yeshiva students. Coercion doesn’t work, and it won’t produce soldiers. What works is building frameworks Haredi men can enter without giving up their way of life, and Otzma has done exactly that in the police and Border Police, with tracks that protect Shabbat, kashrut, prayer and Torah study. Meanwhile, the people carrying the burden, especially reservists who have served hundreds of days since October 7, should be first in line for every benefit the state gives.

The way to resolve “third-rail” issues is to stop trying to win them in one dramatic package. Pass the parts most Israelis already agree on, show they work, and build from there.

Israel has had real military successes in Gaza, in the north against Hezbollah, in Syria even, and broadly against Iran and its proxies, while at the same time facing a serious collapse in the success of public diplomacy, even as some once-hostile countries have moved closer and other alliances have held against the odds, and even strengthened. We see that from Slovenia to Panama, and from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Gulf. For Israelis, foreign policy and national security remain the most important questions. How will you approach it?

Yishai Fleisher:

The IDF has done remarkable things since October 7: in Gaza, against Hezbollah, in Syria, and against Iran itself. What failed on October 7 wasn’t our soldiers. It was a doctrine, the idea that you can “contain” enemies who openly say they want to kill you, and buy quiet with money and work permits. My party said for years that containment would end in disaster, and we were right. The first principle of our approach is simple: we don’t manage threats, we defeat them. That means letting our soldiers win, backing them legally when they act, and paying combat soldiers what they deserve.

On public diplomacy, I’ve spent most of my career on foreign television and with foreign delegations in Hebron, and I can tell you why we lose that battle. We lose when we apologize. Israel keeps explaining itself instead of standing up for itself, and audiences can tell the difference. Countries moving closer to us, from the Gulf to the Eastern Mediterranean to places like Panama and Slovenia, aren’t moving because we apologized better. They’re moving because Israel is strong, has the technology and security they need, and keeps its word.

We also send the world very mixed signals. In many ways, Israel acts like a blue state. We’re pro-UN about everything, our gun laws are blue-state gun laws, our family and social policy looks blue-state, and then suddenly we have these red-state moments. Nobody understands what we are. Are we a biblical country or a secular one? A socialist country or a right-wing one? We talk about our moral army, and then we talk about how tough our army is. Which one is it? The first rule of diplomacy is not to confuse people, and until we get our narrative straight on the core issues, the world will stay confused about us. It’s a public diplomacy problem we keep coming back to, and we don’t see it because we don’t see ourselves from the outside.

Strength is our best diplomacy. Our job is to tell the story with the same confidence our soldiers show in the field: this is the Jewish homeland, we have a right to be here, and will continue to relentlessly defend ourselves.

Antisemitism has washed away any guardrails worldwide. For the first time since the end of World War II and the Holocaust Jews are routinely the victims or targets of shootings, bombings, rammings and stabbings, alongside efforts to push Jews out of workplaces, professions and professional associations. This matters for Israelis traveling abroad, and it matters for Jews living outside Israel. This matters for Israelis traveling abroad, and it matters for Jews living outside Israel. Antisemites sometimes use Israel as their excuse, and we know that no matter who the prime minister is, or what the government policy is may not matter much – or at all – to some of the most extreme haters and conspiracy peddlers. But Israel also has a responsibility, as the Jewish homeland, as the sovereign Jewish state with military, intelligence, and security forces with long arms and reach, to protect and maybe even to rescue Jews in danger. Most Western Jews won’t be moving here tomorrow. Setting aside security and foreign policy, what else can Israel do to help keep Diaspora Jews safe and to fight Jew-hatred?

Yishai Fleisher:

My parents were refuseniks in the Soviet Union. I grew up knowing that when Jews were in trouble, the State of Israel made it its business. That responsibility hasn’t changed.

Beyond security and intelligence work, Israel can do three things.

First, be the address. Every Jew in the world should know that there is a home ready for them, and the state should make aliyah easier, faster, and less bureaucratic, especially for professionals.

Second, stop exporting a weak message. When Israel apologizes for existing, it tells antisemites that Jews can be pushed around, and it tells Diaspora Jews that their own homeland isn’t sure it deserves to exist. A confident Israel makes Jews everywhere stand straighter.

Third, invest in Jewish identity and Jewish self-defense abroad: Jewish education, Hebrew, and practical support for community security and training, backed by Israeli expertise. I want this to include clubs on diaspora college campuses focused on and promoting aliyah.

Most Western Jews won’t move here tomorrow. But we start with increasing the feeling internationally Israel is theirs, and that it has their back.

Looking at our foreign policy & economic diplomacy, Israeli officials and companies go to New York, DC and California, but political support is increasingly strongest in the heartland, the South and the Mountain West. That’s also often where lower-cost, reindustrializing states best match for foreign direct investment and R&D partnerships. No one is saying we should cede ground without a fight in places that are becoming hostile, and no one is saying there aren’t economic opportunities & business cases to be in the Northeast or California. But, from a return-on-investment standpoint, how do you engage the rest of America, and Europe, beyond their political & financial capitals, both diplomatically & commercially?

Yishai Fleisher:

You’re right, and I see it every week in Hebron. Many of the people who visit the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs and ask how they can help Israel aren’t from Manhattan or Silicon Valley. They’re from Texas, Tennessee, Ohio, Idaho. Many are Christians who read the same Bible we do and love this land because of it.

That’s part of why I pushed for the Biblical Highway, Route 60, which the government formally recognized this June. It connects Beer Sheva, Hebron, Jerusalem, Shiloh and up to the Galilee, and it gives millions of Bible-believing Americans a reason to come and see the heartland of Israel with their own eyes.

From a return-on-investment standpoint, Israel should build direct relationships with governors, state legislators, mayors, and local business leaders in these states, not only Washington. State governments make decisions on pension investments, procurement, anti-BDS law, R&D grants and trade missions. You did exactly this work in Ohio. We need more of it, with Israeli ministries and trade offices showing up in Columbus, Nashville, and Boise, not only in New York.

Following up on that, Israel has signed major economic and defense agreements recently, with Slovenia, and then the Greek defense deal. How do we use economic diplomacy more broadly, and make sure startups and the scale-ups benefit, not just the major, traditional companies?

Yishai Fleisher:

Agreements like the ones with Slovenia and Greece are a good start, but too often the benefits go to the big defense and infrastructure companies that already know how to work with governments.

We should also make a concerted effort to include businesses from every part of the country, including Judea and Samaria, the Negev and the Galilee, not only the Tel Aviv corridor.

Economic diplomacy also means using what Israel does best. We are a defense exporter, and we should be exporting more to countries in our region. We have a deal on the table with Greece and Cyprus for electricity, which is very important. It gets Israel out of its energy bubble, connects us to the European grid, and helps Cyprus as well. And Israel should be helping patrol the sea lanes in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Gulf to protect freedom of navigation, and pushing back on actors like Turkey and Yemen’s Houthis who disrupt global trade.

What must we do now so Israel remains a place where people want to live and raise families? Is the answer education, the workforce, or both? Something else? Culture?

Yishai Fleisher:

The real story of Israel’s future isn’t in the departures hall at Ben-Gurion. About 85% of our population growth comes from births, and Israel still has the highest birth rate in the developed world. That’s our greatest asset, and we should protect it. Jewish fertility has been falling since 2017, across secular, traditional, and religious families alike. An emigrant can come back, and many do: close to half of the Israelis who left in 2015 had returned by 2024. A child who is never born can’t.

So my answer is families first. Housing young couples can afford, real support for reservist families, and a cost of living that doesn’t punish people for having children. Education and workforce matter enormously, but they serve that goal.
And yes, culture: a country where people want to raise families is a country that is proud of its identity, knows its history, and believes it has a future. Israelis have that, and we shouldn’t let anyone talk us out of it.

More broadly, I always say Israel has to be strong in three ways: a strong military, a strong economy, and strong spirituality. Part of that is seeing Jerusalem as the spiritual capital of the world.

Olim from Western countries often arrive well educated, with strong professional backgrounds and even decent Hebrew, and still face real challenges here, especially those in the prime of their working lives, in their 30s, 40s, 50s and even 60s. What have you or your party done for them, and what are you most proud of? What more needs to be done?

Yishai Fleisher:

I’m an oleh myself. I was born here, spent roughly half my life in the United States, and came back. I know the frustration of the professional who arrives with a law degree, a medical license or twenty years of experience and is treated like a beginner.

What I’m proudest of for olim is Aliyah Day. I wrote the legislation, and it became law in 2016. It sounds symbolic, but the Knesset formally said that aliyah is a national value and olim are a national asset, and it requires schools and the government to mark it every year. On the Efrat local council, my focus is aliyah absorption: helping families find work, schooling and community so they stay.

What more needs to be done: we have to cut the red tape. Converting professional licenses and diplomas has to be faster and simpler. My sister has a PhD from Columbia, and she still hasn’t had it recognized here. That’s ridiculous. If you want to make aliyah from America, you need an apostille, an FBI background check, and more. Over and over again, I hear from olim what a nightmare it is. We also have to cut the bureaucracy so it’s easier for olim to buy a home here. We also have to prepare the next generation before they come by exporting more Hebrew to Jewish communities abroad and working on campuses to promote aliyah.

Most of all, olim need representation. Roughly 200,000 Western olim have come here over 78 years, and that community has never produced a party, a bloc or a minister. If voted in, I can change that.

What have you, or your party, done that you’re most proud of?

Yishai Fleisher:

Personally, I’m proudest of the work that reconnects the Jewish people to our roots. In Hebron, I led the restoration of the Tombs of Ruth and Yishai (King David’s great-grandmother and father) and the tomb of Avner Ben Ner, places that had been neglected for decades. The Biblical Highway recognition this year means Route 60 is now officially the spine of the biblical Land of Israel. And Aliyah Day, which I wrote, means Israel marks the return of its people every year.

For my party, it’s a lot of things, that all share one crucial thread for voters to know; lots of right-wing leaders have espoused a similar ideology. Itamar Ben Gvir has actually achieved bringing that to light with real, substantive change in this country. If you want something to really get done, he is the one who has learned how to bring that change within the system. This translates into security that people can feel.

Under Minister Ben-Gvir, Otzma Yehudit armed and trained about a thousand civilian readiness squads, local first responders who saved lives on October 7 where they existed. We reformed gun licensing so that law-abiding citizens can defend themselves and their families. We changed prison conditions so that terrorists no longer live comfortably at taxpayers’ expense, and we’ve pushed hard for the death penalty for terrorists. These were things people said couldn’t be done.

Many olim come from two-party systems, or from countries with no party politics at all. Here they face small parties, blocs, lists and last-minute alliances. How should olim approach this election?

Yishai Fleisher:

First, the basics. In Israel, you vote for a list, not a person, and each party has a letter. Seats are divided by the national vote, and a party needs 3.25% to get into the Knesset at all. So when you vote, ask two questions: which party best represents what I believe, and will my vote actually count toward a government that reflects it?

My advice to olim: don’t vote the way you voted in New York or London, and don’t treat this like a two-party system where you pick the “lesser evil.” Small parties matter enormously here, because they decide what the coalition looks like. Too many right-wing voters have voted for big parties and then watched those parties form coalitions with the center-left. If you want a fully right-wing government, vote for the party that is committed to one. And look at who is on the list in a realistic slot.

Elections highlight our differences and our national problems. We focus on what’s wrong, and who can fix it. But stepping back, what makes you hopeful, and happy, about being Israeli?

Yishai Fleisher:

My parents were refuseniks. They fought the Soviet Union for the right to be Jews and to come home. I get to live their dream every day. I drive on roads my ancestors walked, and I pray at the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, the burial place Abraham bought. After two thousand years, Jews are back, speaking Hebrew, raising big families, and defending ourselves.

What makes me happy is the Israeli people. After October 7, the whole world expected us to break. Instead, reservists left their businesses for hundreds of days, families opened their homes to evacuees, and young couples kept getting married and having babies. Israelis argue loudly, but when it matters, we are one family. Every Western oleh who gives up an easier life to come here is a reminder that this is the most exciting Jewish story in history, and we get to be part of it.

I’m also happy about the return to Yiddishkeit I see all around me. This Chodesh Elul, hundreds of thousands of people came to the Kotel, and 70,000 came to the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs in Hebron. This land is flourishing, and everything about that makes me happy. I love Tel Aviv, and I love seeing Tel Aviv flourish. I love seeing Jerusalem flourish. Even the widening of our roads, and of the Biblical Highway, is a great achievement.

There are probably many Western Olim for whom Otzma could be a natural choice, though there are also other right-of-center parties that would make that claim. And, for some Western Olim who are used to a different leadership style, they may skip over Otzma just because of that. What is the case for Otzma behind the headlines & the social media posts? What policies & positions would matter most to them?

Yishai Fleisher:

Behind the headlines, Otzma Yehudit says plainly what many Western olim already believe. Israel is the Jewish state and shouldn’t apologize for it. Terrorists should be punished, not managed. Our soldiers should be allowed to win. And a right-wing vote should produce a right-wing government.

The policies that matter most to Western olim: security they can feel in their own towns, through armed readiness squads and gun licensing that lets responsible citizens protect their families. A judicial system that answers to democratic checks, the way the one they grew up with in America does. Support for reservists and their families. A strong Jewish identity in schools and public life.

On leadership style, I understand that Otzma’s directness can be jarring to people used to more polished politics. But that directness is why the party warned about containment long before October 7, and why it delivered on security when it got into government. Ben Gvir looks to – and speaks to – the East, not the West; he knows how to effectively scare our jihadi enemies in deed and word. And he is happy to embrace that role and leave diplomatic “explaining and appeasement” that never work anyway up to others.

Western olim moved here because they believed in this country with conviction. Otzma is the party that governs that way. On October 27, vote Bet for Ben Gvir, for Bitachon – for Otzma Yehudit.