Why This Reservist Is Voting for Avigdor Liberman

I am 42 years old.

Since October 7, I have served hundreds of days as a combat reservist. Although I have reached the age of exemption, I recently volunteered for another year because serving Israel is a privilege, not a burden.

I don’t say this seeking recognition. I say it because the debate over universal military service is no longer abstract for me—it is deeply personal.

Like thousands of reservists, my civilian life has disappeared. Careers have stalled. Businesses have struggled. Families have carried extraordinary burdens. Marriages have been tested, many have collapsed, and children have grown accustomed to watching their parents leave home at a moment’s notice. I have buried friends with whom I served. Others returned physically unharmed but emotionally changed forever. Nearly every reservist I know has paid a price no Israeli should ever have to pay.

Yet we continue to report for duty.

Not because we agree with every government decision, but because Israel must be defended, because our brothers and sisters-in-arms depend on us, and because abandoning the country is simply not an option.

That sense of duty is one of the strongest forces holding Israeli society together. It is also something this government is dangerously taking for granted.

Just recently, the Knesset approved legislation elevating Torah study to constitutional status while extending mandatory military service for those already serving. It also passed a law preventing the arrest of Haredi draft dodgers. The message is unmistakable: those already carrying the burden will carry even more, while broad exemptions remain protected.

At the same time, Israel still has no law recognizing the unique status of reservists and conscripted soldiers. However, it has decided whose blood will now be protected by the law.

The issue is not Torah study. Israel is a Jewish state, and Torah is central to our identity. The issue is equality before the law.

For nearly eight decades, Israeli governments have pursued compromises with the Haredi parties over military service. October 7 changed Israel, but it did not change the Haredi leadership’s position. If anything, it hardened it. The era of negotiations, quotas, and partial solutions has failed.

Israel needs a universal national service law for every 18-year-old citizen—Jew, Muslim, Christian, or Druze. The defense establishment should determine who serves in the military and who performs national service.

One nation. One obligation. One law.

That is why I support Avigdor Liberman.

Long before the current debate dominated Israeli politics, Liberman made universal service a defining issue. For years, including while he was part of Netanyahu’s bloc, he worked to reach a compromise with the Haredi parties. When those efforts repeatedly failed, he concluded that compromise itself had failed.

After the 2019 election, he refused to join Netanyahu’s coalition in part because of the draft issue. I believe he was right then, and I believe he is right today.

My support is also based on his record. As defense minister, he increased soldiers’ salaries, advanced free higher education for released combat soldiers, and reduced taxes on reservists’ annual compensation. While the current government deserves credit for wartime assistance, most of it has been temporary. Reservists still lack permanent guarantees for mental health care, mortgage assistance, and affordable early childhood education.

Liberman has already begun outlining a long-term plan to address those gaps. Based on his record, I believe he is more likely than any other candidate to turn those commitments into lasting policy.

I also respect his willingness to put principle ahead of political convenience. He opposed the Gaza disengagement, resigned from Ehud Olmert’s government over negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, and resigned as defense minister in 2018 over the policy of allowing Qatari cash into Gaza in exchange for temporary quiet. Whether one agrees with every decision or not, he has repeatedly demonstrated that he is willing to leave office rather than abandon his convictions.

Replacing the current government, however, is not enough. Israel needs a fundamental reset of its national priorities. For decades, the welfare state has increasingly rewarded those exempt from military service while asking those who serve to shoulder a disproportionate share of the military, economic, and social burden. That imbalance must end. The parties that have institutionalized mass military exemptions cannot continue to dictate national policy from within the governing coalition. They belong in the opposition if Israel is serious about restoring equality of obligation.

This election is therefore about far more than one politician. It is about the kind of country Israel will become after October 7.

Will we continue asking those who already bear the burden to sacrifice even more while institutionalizing exemptions for others? Or will we finally correct a historic injustice?

If my unit is called tomorrow, I will report. So will thousands of reservists, regardless of their politics. We serve because our loyalty is to Israel and to the soldiers standing beside us—not to any politician.

Israel owes its reservists and all who serve more than gratitude. It owes them equality.

For me, no candidate has defended that principle more consistently than Avigdor Liberman.