If I had any political ambition, these would be some of my election pleas

Elections are not just a race. Platforms can educate how to mend society.

If my party will not get the absolute majority, compromises will be found.

Free, round-the-clock, all-week public transportation; government subsidy for taxis to service areas without proper transportation.
Rent control.
No more VAT on anything. Tax on stock market deals.
Nationalizing the banks.
Because Israel now extracts gas, gas will be free for all.
Priority at pleasing the many but not-so-rich over the wealthy.
State subsidy to isolate (and ventilate) your home.
Trying to get Jews to make aliyah because Israel is great, not because the Diaspora is scary. Serious State effort at hasbara.
Making the four health funds fuse. No more private medicine.
Pension for blue-collar workers at 55 years for the same money.
In peacetime, every soldier must get, on average, 7 hours of sleep at least, including commanders on every level.
Free TV and Internet connection for the frail and immobile and for activists who go to meetings at least twice a week.
Removal of the hypothetical option of capital punishment, since no one is as bad as Eichmann, and to tell other states, life’s too holy.
Adding to the Basic Law four more Rights: The Right to Safety, to Influence the Next Generation, and to Receive Empathy and Truth.
For those who reject equality for all, exclusion from parliamentarian representation, the right to free speech, free assembly, etc.
All non-ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jews, to vote, must pass an exam on how to accommodate the ultra-Orthodox (modesty, kashrut), and all ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jews, in order to vote, must pass an exam on how to accommodate the secular (democracy, equality).
Young people can only vote once they learned basic secular subjects and basic Jewish subjects.
An absolute injunction on spreading false information in general and hatred or lack of respect vis-à-vis women, Jews, non-Whites, etc.
Sugar and white flour products and white rice only on doctors’ prescriptions. Foods must have a minimum amount of fiber.
State subsidy for all foods that may replace animal produce foods, and a campaign teaching health and climate benefits of vegan foods. Not included are the wasteful fake meats, fake milks, and fake fish.
All soup kitchens and sport and fitness programs free for everyone.
New laws that oblige any Knesset candidates list, cabinet, and workplace to have 50% women and 20% Muslims.
Within five years, all the top ranks of the police must be held by women, supported by men working under them.
Investigation of right-wing politicians must be led by right-wing officials, left-wing by left-wing, and Mizrachics by Mizrachics.
More right-wing judges in the High Court.
An emphasis to phase out all recreational drugs while providing psychological support to learn to live better without. Free anti-addiction counseling. Lesser healthcare payments for non-users.
Free relationship counseling for couples.
Psychological and philosophical support for leaders of world views to change them to support democracy or they’ll get outlawed.
State-paid German Gentile visitors and Gentile former IDF soldiers teaching Muslim Israelis about Jews.
Beginning to creating the strict conditions for a Jordan-part West Bank-Gaza confederation making clear that as long as these conditions are not met, such a construction will not be allowed.
State-sponsored babysitting for parents who want to participate in activism, cross-cultural learning, and an occasional night out.
Polluting industries must become clean and pay workers and people who live in their neighborhood compensation for health damages with the burden of proof on the industries if they dispute claims.
Child care benefit returns to what they used to be until June 2003.
Muslim and Druze IDF soldiers and ex-soldiers patrol and restore order in Muslim villages and train Muslim police to take over.
The more news outlets spread facts and democracy-supporting opinions, the more State subsidy for them.
A free Sunday every week; salaries for those who must work 200% and a free Friday for those who work on Sunday.
Letting the Bedouin live wherever and however they choose, in honest coordination with the IDF.
Introducing courses to learn Jewish competition and pride, not comparing oneself to others but to who we were earlier.
Kotel prayer area split up by real-time demand.
All buildings in Muslim cities and settlements are made earthquake-proof and get safe rooms within four years by workers from the West Bank, and in Jewish and mixed cities by Asian workers.
All kids from age of 10 learn Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, and English.
All youths do military or alternative civil service.
A law like the one in Germany forbidding Holocaust denial, here forbidding denial of oppressions (sexism, homophobia, racism, Antisemitism, etc.), and a law like the one in Germany outlawing Scientology, here outlawing oppressive religious streams.
Election threshold for the Knesset: one seat. Works fine in Holland. Voting for people, not just parties. Elections for prime minister.
By law, all peanut butter container labels must be printed upside-down, and stores must present the containers on their lids.
Assistance for homeschooling for kids who go to at least four group activities a week (sports, hobbies, activism, charity).
Let’s lock up spreaders of hate, criminalize those scaring vulnerable groups, and penalize those demeaning pro-democracy groups.
Fortify Israel’s democracy by promoting humanistic and socialistic aspects of Traditional Judaism against Capitalism and greed.
Initiating forming of an international Block of Allied Democracies.
Financial priority for fundamental and medical science, health for the many instead of the few, and research toward curing all disease.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, an almost daily blog contributor to the Times of Israel, and previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is (partly) generated by AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. He doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit about what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and education contribute to his visions. * If you don't know the Dutch, get an American peek behind the scenes here: https://youtu.be/QMPp6h6r72M * To find less-recent posts on subject XXX among his 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. Yet, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people who don't deserve that. He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust, and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * His most influential teachers (chronologically) are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. * One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. He loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, anti-elitism, anti-bigotry and supremacy, for Zionism, Intersectionality, and non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, empowering therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids non-violently. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's being a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. He lives with his library in Jerusalem. Feel free to contact him. * His writing has been made possible by a (second-generation) Holocaust survivors' allowance from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1