Manifesto for Change: With the Clock Ticking

In all walks of life we usually prioritize the strategic questions of WHAT and WHY at the expense of the often more tactical ones of HOW and WHO. I personally believe the vast majority of Israelis want a relatively similar shade of the ‘What and Why’ but our major challenges lie in the ‘How and Who’. We need to break the attitude and culture of “the ends justify the means” in the way society is led and run and find a new way to work together as a society. Time is against me and I have decided to put my thoughts ‘out there’.

I will be accused by many reading this of being ridiculously impractical, dreaming hopelessly and dangerously naive. That is a risk I take but I have one overwhelming luxury which many others don’t. It is not a luxury without a massive penalty, and it is one I absolutely would trade the world for, but in this one respect it is a luxury.

I am diagnosed with a terrible neurodegenerative disease called PSP which likely means that in a relatively short period of time I won’t have any ability to communicate my thoughts, let alone conjure up my own thoughts. It could be years, months or weeks but it is not decades so I feel an overwhelming and desperate need to speak my mind as I see it now and therefore it is in this one respect a luxury enabling me to take the risk.

I have absolutely no ulterior motive at this point other than wanting to speak my mind on what sort of country I want my children and grandchildren to live in before I can no longer speak. Probably no one will actually read this, but at least I have had the chance to say my piece whether or not I make it to one, two, three or many future elections.

Background

I am not a wishy-washy moderate with no political views albeit I am a centrist in many respects. On a personal level I, like all of us, have a personal sense of right and wrong and there are policies that I agree with, disagree with and many I am not sure of my position on because I don’t know everything and the issues are incredibly complex.

I am on the right of the political spectrum on many issues, I am a Religious Zionist who made Aliyah from the UK. I didn’t serve in the Army because I was 32 when I made moved here so I lack an important perspective although I have seen life as a parent with a son who has spent the last few years fighting in a Special Forces unit in places including Be’eri and Nahal Oz on October 7, Gaza and Lebanon. I have lost friends and seen friends lose children.

I worked hard and paid my taxes until I now when I am being forced from health to move to stop doing so. I have written extensively as an advocate for Israel to a large audience on social media and been attacked online and taken risks at work on occasion. None of this makes me any kind of authority on politics but I think it gives me the right to voice an opinion.

Probably one thing that makes me a little different to others is my background. I grew up in London in a Jewish community which was a mix between what would now be considered Haredi and Dati Leumi, I went to a non-Jewish school where I alone amongst +1,000 students wore a kippa proudly and have worked alongside Jew, Christian, Muslim, Atheist and all persuasions all my career with a true sense of mutual respect. I have worked and visited more than 30 countries from Canada to Australia and over 25 US States so I have some perspective on culture. None of that makes me unique or expert on anything but it does inform my views.

The WHAT and WHY are important but I believe many of us want similar things

I have clear personal views on the questions of WHAT I want and WHY.

I want to see all Israelis contribute to the running and defence of the state. I want a state that lives at peace with neighbors in the Middle East who are prepared to respect our right to exist, but I will make no compromises with those who won’t.

I want a ‘status quo’ whereby Israel operates as a thriving liberal democracy with world-leading best-in-class equal rights regardless of religion, race, gender, persuasion but I want it to be balanced together with the maintaining of Israel as a Jewish State with a respect for authentic, halacha based but open-minded Judaism.

I don’t want to live in a theocracy and want us to be brave and bold to try to find solutions to the significant challenges that have caused heartache as halachic Judaism has grappled with issues that only come with having a Jewish State which impact those in Israel and the Jewish World. I recognize, however, that there are limits by which authentic Judaism can’t flex.

I want a balance between the branches of government so that the will of the majority can be exercised but the needs of the minorities are fully protected.

Likewise, I want an economy that thrives on merit, innovation and the maximization of the potential of its people but has backstops and measures designed to take care of those who need it.

I want the hostages home as the top priority but like most Israelis, it must exist alongside defeating Hamas and seeing an end to their capability to harm us.

My wants are not unique

I believe that most Israelis want some of the same things and recognize we live in an imperfect world where not everything exists in perfect balance all the time, and that choices have to be made, not all ones I support. I believe most of us are prepared to compromise within the framework above and live on a spectrum. I want a balanced society which involves in some areas significant change and in some areas a retrenching of the status quo.

Of course, people will say that the devil is in the detail but I believe that the state as initially envisaged by those who signed the Declaration of Independence were not too far off in their principles of give and take.

It is all about the HOW and WHO

Dwight D. Eisenhower said: “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.”

Our errors and mistakes have been in the How and Who. We have allowed for too long a Machiavellian politics where “the end justifies the means” and integrity, clan-like politics and corruption have been allowed to fester.

This is true on the Right and Left, Religious and Non-Religious, Jewish and Arab spectrums – in fact that may actually be one of the few points of alignment. I am not singling out specific people from the leaders of today and yesterday – many of whom have given decades of service to protect us and did so with passion and good intentions. They have to make decisions I have not been prepared to step forward to make and I respect that. Overall however it has been too grubby, it is currently frankly, in some respects, as a religious person a ‘desecration of G-d’s image’ and it harms us a lot more than the substance.

We need, going forward, to somehow elect people who understand this, can see the long game, are prepared to compromise on their ‘ideals’ within the spectrum above and who understand that the end doesn’t justify the means – there must be integrity, due process and allowance and respect for different opinions.

Winston Churchill famously said – “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others”. He was right and we don’t have an alternative. In fact, immediately after WW2 he lost an election but came back again!

Leap of faith – and a carefully weighed one

The problem with all of this is the risk of change. We are not situated in the Mid-West of the US but in the heart of the Middle East surrounded by enemies waiting for the chance to pounce. One false move….

Yet, for the sake of the defence country we must build what I described above to survive into the mid to long term. One leader and one administration – whatever your feelings about them – can’t hang on indefinitely. We have to address this and can’t kick it the can down the road for much longer.

The question is who…we must pick leaders who have the combination of the integrity and the experience and skills to stand tall.

Who are they? That is a very good question and obviously a large number of ready-made, multiple time proven Eisenhower’s or Winston Churchill’s are not hanging around waiting for the call.

The solution

There is sadly not an easy one. We need to elect leaders who have integrity and who are prepared to work with others who have integrity despite having different views. They must bring gravitas and credibility with them to stand up to those who try to defeat us, and they will need to bring experienced hands to key positions to supplement their potential lack of experience.

If however, we can’t find these leaders, we will have to try harder and then harder still. We will have to take a leap of faith. I may lack depth of policy knowledge and that is a weakness but this cardinal principle simply can’t be ignored and has to hold sway.

As I said at the beginning, I will be accused of being naïve by friends and foes alike.  I may be accused of other things to, but it is what I hand on heart believe and I may not have much time in which to make it known, so I wanted to make it plain and clear. I also accept that on many policy level topics I truly don’t know. Finding the balance point on these issues will be very hard and needs a real attitude of collaboration.

I do believe however, that we have solved bigger challenges as a people, and it isn’t beyond us. I will tell you why. It is because of what I have seen in the last two years. I am very proud of the generation of our sons and daughters who have stepped up since October 7 and see hope that there are people who see beyond clan and see the good of the overall country. We need to reinforce this culture and these values.

I come back to my personal faith as a Jew. I want my kids and their kids to build a society that is strong and healthy. I truly believe that my personal litmus test would be (and it is  mine) as we celebrate Passover and then come to Shavuot and celebrate the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai…would G-d Himself be proud of the nation we have built and have we done so in His image. I think we have done some amazing things but we absolutely have work to do but we absolutely can do it. I believe He is not looking at one of our individual clans as a reference point but how we operate as a people and first and foremost we need to be a ‘Kiddush Hashem’ – a sanctification of His name.

As I said at the start, I am not qualified to preach politics and there is much I don’t know but I have this luxury that I don’t want and I it has a short shelf span so I am going to put my thoughts out there.