Yisrael B’Aliya

YISRAEL B’ALIYA

The State of Israel is the national home of all Jewish people. The raison d’être of the State of Israel is “kibbutz galuyot”, the ingathering of exiles.
To this end, Israel must both provide refuge for the Jewish people worldwide, and also serve as a magnet, actively attracting Jews from different countries and backgrounds.

In order to fulfill these two missions, both the Jewish and Democratic nature of Israel must be strengthened. Our democratic and Jewish nature must form a duality; each is vital for our survival.
It is therefore that in questions of Religion and State, we must constantly look for practical solutions, and not fight ideological battles. If either side in an ideological battle “wins”, all of Israeli society loses.

The government of Israel must safeguard the security of its citizens.
- In the immediate-term, the autonomy for terror provided by the Palestinian Authority must be eradicated.
- In the long-term, only through a continued process of encouraging democratization and increased openness in our neighboring societies, especially in the PA, will long-term stability be achieved.
The citizens of Israel deserve a truly free economy, giving expression to each and every person’s relative advantages. At the same time, the government has a responsibility to care for the needy, to offer special aliya and absorption benefits, and to close the social gaps in society.

Government operating on the principles of direct representation, transparency and accountability, will provide the highest possible standards of quality of life for the citizenry. The Prime Minister and 50% of Knesset members must be elected directly. The electoral threshold should be raised to 2.5%.

Education should serve as the primary means to insure continuity of the State of Israel and the Jewish People. Striving for excellence in education must be our top priority, as our ‘yiddishe kop’ is our strongest strategic resource. In order to strengthen the bond between Jews worldwide, a basic core curriculum of Jewish studies should be taught in all Jewish schools – in Israel and in the Diaspora.

The State of Israel is the center of communal life for the Jewish people. This means that Israel should be intimately involved in the Diaspora’s challenges to strengthen the Jewish communities worldwide, while the Diaspora should be a true partner with Israeli Jewry in decisions affecting the Jewish identity of the State.
Sunday as a non-working day should be instituted. This will immeasurably enhance the quality of life of Israel’s citizens, and will serve to resolve many of the points of strife between the observant and the secular in Israeli society.