Transcript [00:00] Zea Glands, welcome to the Universal [00:02] Zionist podcast. [00:04] >> Hi Tully, how you doing? I'm so happy to [00:06] be here. [00:06] >> It's good to have you here to talk about [00:08] the party that you're running with [00:09] Hatiba [00:11] that is causing all kinds of waves in [00:14] Israel before the upcoming election on [00:16] October 27th. Tell us a little bit about [00:19] first of all tell us about yourself. [00:22] >> Okay, I am born and bred in Payic, New [00:25] Jersey. I made aliyah first as a [00:27] teenager in the '9s and then came back [00:30] here as an adult. I've been here now for [00:31] 21 years. I live in Miveaserat which is [00:34] right outside of Jerusalem. Uh my [00:36] husband there runs a yeshiva with 270 [00:39] yeshiva boys in it that are coming from [00:42] >> I went to that yeshiva maser in Masera. [00:45] Yep. [00:45] >> Yeah. So we've been living there for 18 [00:47] years uh right off campus. [00:49] >> That's crazy. That's really wild to [00:52] imagine being living in that. I mean, it [00:55] was a it was great as a 17-year-old. As [00:58] an 18-year-old, but you've been there [00:59] for 18 years. [01:00] >> Yes. I've been uh in yeshiva for 18 [01:02] years. I've been in yeshiva my whole [01:03] married life. Actually, I moved to [01:04] Yeshiva the day after my Shabbot. Wow. [01:06] >> So, I've never lived anywhere but um [01:09] we're very happy and yeshiva is doing [01:10] great and we're very happy to be there. [01:13] Um I'm also a mother of five children. [01:15] I'm a former director for a master urban [01:17] plan for the Jerusalem metropolitan [01:18] area. I now run projects that are [01:22] regional level uh infrastructure [01:24] projects that are usually private public [01:26] partnerships between the Israeli [01:27] government and international investors. [01:29] And I started a volunteer uh [01:32] professional network that helps [01:34] facilitate group aliyah meaning people [01:35] who communities who want to move from [01:37] the diaspora to Israel as a group [01:40] >> which more and more are doing. That used [01:43] to be, you know, it used to be like [01:45] there was one rabbi from New York City [01:48] who in the what ' 80s or '9s made aliyah [01:51] with his community and it wasn't even [01:53] his whole community, but like [01:54] >> about five families. [01:55] >> Rabbi Riskin, you know, God bless him. [01:58] Um helped developed Aphrat with [02:02] the Jewish community in the Upper West [02:04] Side, the Lincoln Square Synagogue. It [02:06] was there was one. And now every summer [02:08] you hear about multiple rabbis that are [02:10] coming with their communities to [02:12] >> Yeah. It's the new marketing uh tactic [02:14] of every developer in Israel is that [02:15] they get a Anglo rabbi on board and it's [02:18] great. But we I've been encouraging this [02:19] for a long time. When I was first [02:20] talking about group alya, this is pre [02:23] precoid, pre-Trump, uh pre- everything. [02:26] And people were laughing at me. They're [02:27] like, "It's never going to happen. [02:28] There's no such thing. Nobody's going to [02:29] be interested." And then COVID happened [02:31] and they started to listen a little bit [02:32] more. I'm talking about in Israeli [02:34] government offices. And then Trump [02:36] politics happens and things got a little [02:38] bit more polarized and anti-semitism [02:39] started rising and all of a sudden [02:41] people started listening and now as we [02:42] see there are entire communities that [02:44] are coming nobody's laughing anymore and [02:47] um I always use Riskin and Nefrat as a [02:50] great example because they moved to an [02:51] area that historically was considered [02:53] uninhabitable. The gush was considered [02:56] very harsh conditions where they're [02:57] where they're located, [02:58] >> right? They're in Judea and Samaria. [03:00] >> Jude and Samaria, rocky terrain, hard to [03:03] grow things there, harsher weather, [03:05] >> and also very politically controversial [03:09] and you know to it was a big deal to [03:12] move a community from the upper west [03:14] side to to Judea and Samaria or what the [03:16] media calls the West Bank and but he did [03:18] it. So nobody thought that they could do [03:20] it and in the end you know especially [03:22] you know obviously you know spoiled [03:24] Americans that were coming and doing it [03:26] and in the end we have a beautiful [03:28] gorgeous community which is a fraat so I [03:30] use that always as the model is that [03:32] you'd be surprised what can happen with [03:33] a little gumption [03:34] >> it's a daily basis that I just heard [03:36] yesterday my mother told me she said did [03:39] you hear that there's like hundred [03:40] families from Brooklyn moving to like as [03:44] the Syrian Jewish community is moving [03:46] together Mhm. [03:48] >> to Jerusalem. So, [03:50] >> absolutely, we have communities from all [03:52] over, whether they're based [03:53] geographically or based on schools or [03:55] even we're putting the, you know, the [03:57] groups together because we know that [03:58] they're looking for similar types of [04:00] styles of living or or religious, you [04:03] know, observance and um we're connecting [04:06] them. So, we have groups from Baltimore [04:07] that are similar to groups from Payic, [04:09] let's say, and we're putting them [04:10] together and building them to a group. [04:12] And we're in talks with major regional [04:14] councils about creating new [04:15] neighborhoods. We did a we did a study, [04:17] a seven-month study, and we met with [04:20] every regional council from Kiryat [04:21] Malahi in the south all the way up to [04:23] the Golan in the north. And we evaluated [04:25] them based on three criteria of uh [04:27] appropriate housing for OIM and [04:30] appropriate education and a a regional [04:32] council that was willing to properly [04:33] absorb them and give them that support [04:35] structure. And there wasn't that many [04:37] places that really fit all those three [04:38] criteria. So, we also decided to create [04:40] more of our own. [04:42] >> That's amazing. Okay. So, but we're not [04:43] going here to talk about that. Even [04:45] though this podcast, the Universal [04:47] Zionist podcast, um had an immigration [04:50] attorney, uh who was here recently to [04:53] talk about how he has a fourfold in um [04:58] interest. People are reaching out to his [05:00] law firm, how to make aliyah, and uh [05:03] four-fold increase in the last couple of [05:05] years since since the war, since October [05:07] 7th, and how demand for aliyah is [05:09] through the roof and how to get an [05:11] Israeli passport and residency and visas [05:13] and all of that. So we're we're we're [05:16] doing a webinar on that topic. There's a [05:18] lot of interest in Aliyah, thank God. [05:20] And so thank you for the work that [05:21] you've done. [05:22] >> Absolutely. I mean, the numbers are [05:23] there. The application numbers are [05:24] there. They've increased hundfold. And [05:27] um we're absolutely looking to make the [05:30] absorption of these, you know, we don't [05:31] we don't want to just bring people to [05:32] Israel. We want them to be successful in [05:34] Israel. And that was something that I [05:36] think was really lacking. There was a [05:37] lot of people who would make aliyah to [05:39] Israel. Make that jump up up upend their [05:41] entire lives and come here and even be [05:43] here for sometimes 10, 12, 15 years and [05:46] end up going back. I call it reverse [05:47] aliyah. It's not yida. It's not just [05:50] Israelis leaving. But um we want to stop [05:52] that trend. We want to make sure that [05:54] everybody finds a community here that [05:55] they feel comfortable with. And speaking [05:58] to the Tibbor party, a lot of the [06:01] population that would come here and not [06:02] find a community that spoke to them was [06:05] the exact population that this party is [06:07] coming to serve, which is people who are [06:09] religiously observant um even [06:12] ultraorththodox who absolutely believe [06:14] in being part of the country. They're [06:16] working individuals. They have higher [06:17] education. They want to be involved in [06:19] the country in terms of serving, [06:21] protecting, uh contributing to the [06:23] economics of the of the country. and [06:26] they ironically had the hardest time [06:28] finding a place that was appropriate for [06:29] them. [06:30] >> Every day we're confronted with lies, [06:32] misinformation, and distorted narratives [06:34] about Israel. And here's the problem. [06:37] Even when we know something isn't true, [06:39] we don't always have the facts at our [06:41] fingertips to respond. If this sounds [06:44] like you, then I highly recommend a book [06:46] we just launched called the Pro-Israel [06:48] Handbook. This book gives you the [06:50] history, the facts, and the arguments [06:53] you need to confidentally stand up for [06:54] Israel and challenge the most common [06:57] false narratives being spread about the [06:59] Jewish state. Don't just support Israel, [07:02] know how to defend it. Get 15% off your [07:04] copy of the Pro-Israel Handbook today by [07:07] clicking the link below and using the [07:09] code handbook 15. Now, back to the [07:11] video. Okay, we're going to talk all [07:13] about [07:15] party, which means the Karedi public. [07:18] We'll talk about everything in a minute, [07:20] but I want to know just okay, so you [07:21] were doing [07:23] uh consulting work with the government [07:24] and private entities and then how did [07:28] you go from the private sector to [07:32] throwing your hat in the ring to run for [07:35] Kessa? That's a big deal for somebody [07:37] from Payic, New Jersey. [07:39] >> Yeah. So it happens to be that in my [07:41] professional work, I was working on the [07:43] periphery of the political world already [07:44] for 15 years. So all those projects that [07:47] I was doing are really projects that uh [07:49] whether you're in the Knesset or you're [07:50] outside the Knesset, you're really doing [07:52] the same work just from one side of the [07:53] desk or the other side of the desk. So [07:55] I've been working with all uh government [07:58] agencies, government ministries, Knesset [08:00] members already for a long time. And [08:03] being the resident I'll call it uh Anglo [08:07] sometimes female and karedi person I [08:10] would become the lightning rod for a lot [08:12] of these questions about how come people [08:14] are not making aliyah or how come the [08:16] karedi world you know the [08:17] ultraorththodox world is not doing x y [08:19] and z and so the the party principles [08:22] the the message of this party is [08:24] something that has personally been my [08:26] personal soap box already for 15 years [08:28] and so it was a very natural transition [08:30] to come to this party [08:31] >> and also So that's like the best kind of [08:34] political origin story is that you saw a [08:38] need in your community and you said, you [08:42] know, I'm going to run. I'm going to [08:43] run. [08:43] >> Absolutely. I've been waiting for this [08:44] party for 20 years. That's amazing. I've [08:46] been advocating. Okay, so we're talking [08:47] about the party, the party, the party. [08:49] >> The truth be told is that after October [08:50] 7th, I just want to add is that after [08:51] October 7th, I also became very involved [08:54] in the security infrastructure here in [08:56] Israel. Meaning I I [08:58] >> and we interacted on that. Yeah. [08:59] >> Yeah. for for for various crazy reasons [09:01] that that wound through Ukraine. Um, as [09:05] I knew where a lot of the gear was that [09:06] the soldiers were going to be needing [09:08] >> right in the beginning of the war, [09:10] people forget already that that first [09:13] emergency period we were in, everybody [09:16] was sending their boys off to war and [09:18] they were totally unprepared. They [09:20] didn't have the basic equipment. [09:22] >> They weren't expecting it. Obviously, [09:23] the equipment was lacking the numbers. [09:25] They weren't expecting the numbers of [09:26] reservists that were going to need to be [09:27] called up. There was a lot of issues [09:29] that needed to be overcome and what [09:30] happened is is that a lot of people like [09:32] myself and my colleagues we stepped in [09:35] to fill in the gaps both for the army [09:38] for the government where things weren't [09:39] happening we started to make things [09:41] happen and that landed me in the [09:43] civilian war room of the ministry of [09:45] defense and the past three years I've [09:48] basically it's a volunteer you know I'm [09:50] director uh of the discretionary fund of [09:53] Israel which was created in in uh [09:55] conjunction in partnership [09:57] >> the director ctor of the discretionary [09:59] fund of Israel. Yes. [10:01] >> Is there a big discretionary fund in [10:03] Israel? [10:03] >> It was very big. Um it was created in [10:06] partnership with the Ministry of [10:07] Defense, National Police. Uh we've done [10:10] projects for the Air Force. It was [10:11] basically to organize a lot of the top [10:14] donor um contributions towards the war [10:17] effort and to create projects of [10:20] national import. It wasn't, you know, [10:21] your uh your uniforms. We weren't [10:24] dealing with stuff like that. We were [10:25] dealing with the harder stuff. It was [10:26] very high level projects and it was all [10:28] volunteer and all all the people I [10:30] worked with everybody was coming in to [10:31] volunteer. Nobody was getting paid for [10:33] anything but we all really transformed [10:36] our lives. It took over our lives for [10:37] the past three years. [10:38] >> And I was in the Ministry of Defense for [10:41] many months. And somebody recently asked [10:43] me, they're like, "Where did you sleep?" [10:44] And I had to think about it for a second [10:46] cuz [10:46] >> I don't know, we didn't sleep. Um, you [10:49] know, we would come home for Shabbat on, [10:51] you know, for Saturday and that was our [10:54] break during the week and everybody was [10:55] just working non-stop. [10:56] >> Wow. But what was interesting about this [10:58] talking talking about how to move you [11:00] know moving from the the private sector [11:01] to the political sector is that all of [11:04] the heads of all of those operation [11:06] rooms or war rooms the kamalim okay all [11:08] those volunteer efforts what happened [11:10] was is that we all worked together the [11:12] past 3 years now you had people there [11:14] who were secular atheists from Tel Aviv [11:17] and you had people there who were kidic [11:19] okay and everything in between and we [11:22] were running things on a very high level [11:24] really in place of the government I call [11:25] it the citizen government because they [11:27] really stepped in and placed the [11:28] government and all those people got [11:29] along [11:30] >> and we had no problems even if we had [11:32] ideological differences and we've have [11:33] proven record of working together for [11:35] the past three years on very high level [11:37] projects and there was no issues and now [11:40] a lot of those people are now moving [11:41] into the public sphere because we're [11:43] saying wait if we could do this and we [11:45] could do this successfully [11:46] >> we need to bring this and and clear out [11:49] some of that animosity that's been [11:50] historically in the Knesset and we need [11:52] to take these these relationships and [11:54] these proven track records and let's [11:57] bring it to the Knesset and let's make a [11:58] change there. [11:59] >> Totally. Totally. That's so necessary. [12:01] We've had a number of Knesset candidates [12:04] on the podcast in the last couple of [12:06] weeks and everybody's talking about the [12:08] need for some new faces and fresh [12:10] perspectives and to and so wow thank you [12:14] for sharing all of that. And so you saw [12:17] this need in the community and in the [12:20] country and you said I've been waiting [12:22] for a party like this for 20 years now. [12:25] Tell us about how tell us about the [12:27] party. What hats [12:30] the [12:32] community? So how did it start and how [12:35] did they connect with you and what do [12:37] they represent? [12:38] >> Okay, so yeah, it's [12:41] translates to Karedi public. It [12:43] basically is looking to be the first [12:45] ultra orthodox new ultraorththodox party [12:48] in Israeli politics ever. and it's [12:50] coming to represent many thousands of [12:52] people who believe that the legacy [12:54] Karedi parties have not really [12:57] represented either their interests well [12:59] or are not even looking to represent [13:01] them at all. [13:02] >> Okay, so let's just back up because we [13:05] assume everybody even knows what the [13:07] issues in the karedi community are. The [13:08] kared or the ultraorththodox community [13:11] which you're a part of. You're an [13:12] insider. So tell us about what are the [13:15] issues that the ultraorththodox [13:17] community has that are unique that and [13:20] tell us a little bit about the parties [13:22] that are already in place. [13:26] >> Okay. So the kari community is [13:28] essentially defined by the fact that [13:30] they hold uh Torah and Torah learning [13:34] you know the Bible and Bible learning to [13:36] be a supreme value. Um their lives are [13:39] built around it. They uphold to higher [13:41] standards of conduct and um dietary [13:45] codes um learning. The focus of the [13:49] Israeli the Karedi uh education system [13:52] and the Karedi lifestyle is a focus on [13:55] Torah learning upholding Torah values um [13:58] to the highest levels and degrees. And [14:01] in terms of education, that means that [14:03] the Torah learning is going to be the [14:04] focus of the education network as [14:06] opposed to secular studies. uh it means [14:08] that they're going to be looking [14:10] dressing a little bit more modestly in [14:12] general. They have more modesty codes [14:14] for the community overall. And that is [14:17] the ultraorththodox community which [14:18] probably most of your viewers are fairly [14:20] aware of or you know have seen examples [14:23] of here in Israel. [14:24] >> And what's the size of the that [14:25] community? [14:26] >> It's almost 25% of the Israeli [14:28] population [14:29] >> of the Jewish population. If there's 8 [14:32] million Jews, so we're talking about 2 [14:35] million ultraorththodox [14:37] >> and growing exponentially [14:38] >> and growing at a much faster rate than [14:41] the rest. [14:41] >> Larger families. Exactly. It's growing [14:43] exponentially. So this is a huge factor [14:47] in the Israeli society and it's it's [14:49] it's very much an integral part of the [14:51] fabric of Israeli society. [14:52] >> The ultraorththodox community. Okay. And [14:56] uh and so there are two ultraorththodox [14:59] parties, three ultraorththodox parties. [15:01] >> Well, there's two orthodox [15:02] ultraorththodox parties. One of which [15:04] sort of has two streams of of uh thought [15:07] within it. But there is yadut tora, [15:09] right? Gimmel as we know and there's [15:11] shas which is the one is more ashknaz [15:14] and one is more spartic. [15:16] >> Okay. And those parties like you said [15:18] have been around for a very long time. [15:20] >> Absolutely. serving the two those two [15:22] different demographic ultraorththodox [15:25] communities. And what's the problem? [15:29] >> So the issue has become is that those [15:31] parties are very much led by politicos [15:34] by what's called akanim in Hebrew [15:36] meaning they have the rabbis that lead [15:38] the party but a lot of it has become [15:40] very partisan. uh it's become very [15:42] specific in terms of very you know very [15:46] small interest uh groups are very [15:47] influential there and it has not come to [15:50] represent properly the full kared [15:53] spectrum of ultraorththodox jury here in [15:56] Israel. Uh so for instance they'll be [15:59] they've been accused of you know caring [16:01] more about particular budgets for [16:04] specific institutions and schools than [16:06] the overall issues that are facing the [16:08] community. And there are several central [16:10] issues that are really facing the the [16:12] Karedi community. The first one being [16:14] the issue of the draft. And that's [16:16] something that's the the draft to the [16:17] Israeli army, right? It's a the draft to [16:19] the Israeli army is something that is [16:21] obligatory for uh most people above the [16:23] age of 18 here in Israel. And the Karedi [16:27] community along with other communities [16:28] as well has largely not participated in [16:31] the draft because historically up until [16:33] October 7th the army really had very few [16:35] options for people who wanted to go in [16:38] that were karedi to maintain their [16:39] values and lifestyle and maintain that [16:42] throughout their army service. What's [16:44] happened since October 7th is that the [16:46] army has become much more interested. [16:48] Obviously, there's much more of a need [16:50] and there's been a shift and we now have [16:51] real solutions, real facts on the ground [16:54] in terms of um the public being able to [16:57] serve within their value code and [17:01] upholding their religious standards. So, [17:02] you have examples like the Kashonim [17:04] unit, which is a unit of ultraorththodox [17:06] soldiers. It's been amazingly successful [17:09] uh bursting at the seams. Now, there are [17:12] tweaks that need to be made to it. [17:13] There's still things that need to be [17:14] perfected, but you have examples like [17:16] that that have begun to start really [17:18] working. [17:18] >> Let's just give a little bit of color to [17:20] what you're describing because um the [17:23] army has traditionally given almost [17:25] [snorts] a blanket exemption to people [17:28] from the 25% of the country who's [17:30] ultraorthodox. They've had this [17:32] agreement, the status quo agreement from [17:34] the days of Bengurion where um [17:38] ultraorththodox were exempt from uh the [17:40] army and they were instead meant to [17:42] study in yeshiva study Torah in respect [17:46] to the values that the comm the [17:48] community upholds and because Israel is [17:50] a Jewish country and a Jewish nation and [17:53] even the secular government of Israel [17:55] respects the Torah study at least in [17:58] theory that's supposed to be how it's it [18:00] was set up And the army therefore never [18:03] had a a stream or a a solid stream of [18:07] ultraorththodox soldiers. Maybe a few [18:09] here and there. After October 7th, it [18:11] became very clear that the army needed [18:14] manpower. And so they started certain [18:18] units that would accommodate the [18:20] sensitivities unique to the [18:21] ultraorththodox lifestyle. So, for [18:23] example, like maybe I a higher um degree [18:26] of kosher food, for example, or extra [18:30] time for prayers and for Torah study in [18:34] the daily schedule. That's what you're [18:36] describing basically. So, so those are [18:39] that's relatively new since or at least [18:42] there's much more of an urgency and of a [18:44] focus on it in the last three years, [18:47] right? And there's been really [18:49] incredible [18:50] groundbreaking new army units like that [18:54] you mentioned that never existed before. [18:58] Right. So that's all kind of happening [19:01] but and so [19:04] and so okay so that's I just wanted to [19:06] put that out there in case everybody [19:07] wasn't familiar but okay so the the [19:11] aren't the [19:11] >> there are many initiatives meaning it's [19:12] not just unit there's many units meaning [19:16] there's many units that are now geared [19:17] towards the ultraorth orthodox community [19:19] across the board in every you know [19:21] section of the army um there's also the [19:24] national police for instance who are [19:26] dealing with a major manpower or you [19:28] know lack of manpower. They're [19:30] functioning at about 30% of their [19:31] required manpower and they see the [19:34] ultraorththodox community. Yeah, there [19:36] should be an in [19:37] >> they see the uh the ultraorththodox [19:39] community as really one of their real [19:42] saviors for the manpower issue the [19:44] national police. So they've now made [19:46] moves to make all of their kitchens be [19:48] mahadin which means like a higher level [19:50] of dietary laws of kashrit. So those are [19:53] all initiatives that are happening now [19:56] and there are karedum that are serving [19:58] in military intelligence. They are [20:01] there's a unit called kot code which is [20:04] very very high level intelligence unit. [20:06] Um so across the board we're seeing a [20:09] exponential increase in the amount of [20:11] karedi soldiers that are coming into [20:13] Israel. There needs to be tweaks made to [20:16] all those things. There's still things [20:17] to be perfected because this is all new [20:19] and we're doing it obviously under the [20:20] duress of war. So there's lots of things [20:22] that we need to perfect. But what it [20:24] shows is that there are what's called in [20:26] Hebrew. There are pro there's proof in [20:28] the field. Meaning these are there's [20:30] proof of concept here. There are things [20:32] that work. We're able to actually do [20:33] this successfully. My own son uh is [20:36] serving in a unit and you know he has [20:38] long side curls, long payotes. And he [20:40] went in with his uh long payot and he [20:42] came out of the army with his long payot [20:44] and and he had an amazing experience. Uh [20:46] he was even just uh he was just actually [20:48] the misti the uh the top cadet in his [20:51] unit in the in the country. Yeah. [20:53] >> Congratulations. [20:54] >> And um [20:55] >> I didn't even know what that meant, but [20:56] yesterday my daughter had a graduation [20:59] ceremony in the IDF and um and they [21:02] called on these mit [21:06] to kind of come forward and [21:08] >> and it's a big deal to be recognized in [21:10] the IDF for almost anything. I think the [21:12] IDF is the best army in the world and to [21:15] be an excellent soldier to be recognized [21:18] out of a hundred it's a pretty big deal. [21:21] >> Absolutely. And he again he's just he's [21:22] my example because a I I've seen him go [21:25] through the process but he had a [21:26] fantastic experience in his uh service. [21:29] He's now being sent to law school by the [21:31] army and he's signing up for life [21:33] meaning uh I will never sleep well [21:35] again. [21:36] >> And uh he's signing up he's you know [21:38] going to go straight like to a commander [21:39] course. So here's an example of again a [21:42] child who grew up in Israel uh has long [21:45] side curls, grew up in a Karedi family [21:48] and is signing up for life to be part of [21:51] the defense establishment. [21:53] >> Right. So these things are happening. [21:55] >> Okay. So, so there were these two [21:58] clarity political parties that were a [22:02] little bit o overly focused on their [22:04] interest groups, which happens in all [22:06] political parties. And then [22:09] murmurings in the community that we [22:13] need, we have some issues, we need to [22:15] fix it, we have big problems that are [22:17] not being addressed. And then there's [22:19] this army issue that's really being [22:21] exacerbated because of October 7th. And [22:24] so then a number of people got together [22:27] to start a new political party. [22:29] >> Yeah. Because also you have to remember [22:30] it was more than just not you know we [22:33] don't we don't appreciate that they [22:34] haven't dealt with some of the big [22:35] issues is that you have an entire sector [22:38] of the ultraorththodox population here [22:40] in Israel which was not at all [22:42] represented by these by these uh [22:43] political parties these legacy parties [22:45] and that is the karedi world that wants [22:48] to also work that wants to also be [22:51] involved in the country. they were meant [22:54] to feel like they were uh secondary [22:57] second you know secondass citizens uh [22:59] that their lifestyle was not at all [23:01] represented by these parties [23:02] >> right because here we're just another [23:03] timeout so the part of the karedi [23:05] culture like you said very beautifully [23:07] is this you know focus on Torah study [23:10] and to appreciating Torah which is great [23:13] we all appreciate Torah but what I guess [23:16] you didn't really say is that means and [23:18] studying Torah full-time and not going [23:20] to work that's sort part of it that has [23:23] always gone along with it to be [23:24] ultraorthodized. [23:25] >> That's not always that's the thing. This [23:27] is this is a construct in Israel that [23:29] that happens post the Holocaust which [23:30] was very very critical at the time which [23:32] was that when h you know Europe was [23:34] devastated and destroyed and we lost so [23:37] many people in the Jewish nation. There [23:39] was a sense of panic in the s you know [23:41] of trying to rebuild the Ola Torah, [23:43] rebuild the world of Torah and rebuild [23:45] Torah scholars because there was nobody [23:47] left. And thank God we have. I mean in [23:51] Europe if we had 4,000 students learning [23:53] in yeshiva full-time now we have 160,000 [23:56] students learning in yeshiva full time. [23:58] >> Thank god we have we've come back in [24:00] terms of the numbers and so the now [24:03] there's uh no longer the same kind of [24:06] need to stay away from the workforce. [24:10] Now, if anything, there's a lot of [24:11] people in the Karedi community who are [24:14] who are working and who want to be [24:17] working and want to be providing for [24:18] their families and want to be doing [24:20] something just more I don't know kind of [24:22] creative or not more creative but [24:24] differently creative and contributing to [24:26] society in different ways. So, there are [24:27] people who are working and they're not [24:29] represented by the establishment legacy [24:32] parties. [24:33] >> Correct. [24:34] >> Okay. There's there's lots of people who [24:36] are kidic who are karedi who all all [24:39] these this population there's a good 60% [24:42] chunk of the population that do not feel [24:43] represented by the legacy parties [24:45] >> okay so now 60% of 25% right so we're [24:49] talking about [24:49] >> party population [24:50] >> a big population so before we said if [24:52] there's two million okay two million [24:55] claradium in Israel so now we're talking [24:57] about 1.2 2 million. It's a big number [25:00] that are not represented by the legacy [25:02] parties. [25:02] >> Not properly. [25:04] >> Not properly. Right. Okay. So that's [25:05] that is the you sort of have a need and [25:09] now you have a market and now you have a [25:11] you have an opportunity. [25:13] >> Yeah. And the reason why we decided to [25:16] create this party, I mean, this party [25:17] was created by it was started by [25:19] Matiener who was the deputy mayor of a [25:22] city that has a lot of women in it, a [25:24] lot of Anglos in it actually called [25:25] Bamesh, which is we're in right now. And [25:28] uh he ran for the first time he ran on a [25:31] a party that was not the classic legacy [25:34] Karedi parties within the municipal [25:36] elections in Bamesh and he did very [25:38] well. [25:38] >> Who did he run with? [25:40] >> I don't know. [25:41] >> You don't know? Okay. But he he didn't [25:42] run with the Okay. called Derek. I don't [25:44] know who his running partner was. He he [25:46] created a party called Derk. [25:47] >> Oh, he started a party. Oh, I didn't [25:48] realize that. [25:49] >> Yeah, he started a party called Derek [25:51] that was a a Karedi party that was not [25:54] Gimmel or Shast. [25:56] >> So, he's uh he's sort of a I don't know, [25:59] a cavalier. [26:00] >> He's he's a cowboy. [26:02] >> He's but he's he's not a cowboy. He's [26:04] just actually a very great [26:06] representative of this entire [26:08] population. [26:09] there are so many people who are living [26:11] their lives according to these values [26:12] and have been and again going back to [26:15] being this like you know resident [26:18] walking around in government offices [26:19] they would always ask me and I'd always [26:21] say to them there's so many people who [26:22] who absolutely see this as a value of [26:24] being involved in the country who you [26:26] know are very proud of their sons who [26:28] serve who want to be involved in you [26:30] know commerce um and and be be part of [26:33] the workforce and because they also [26:35] didn't have political representation [26:38] that is advertising that on the opposite [26:40] they were trying to uh suppress any of [26:42] those voices. Nobody knew about it. And [26:46] it's very sad to me. That's that's a big [26:47] tragedy is that people didn't realize [26:49] that no this is not something new. [26:51] >> These people have existed and they've [26:53] been living their lives as individuals [26:55] in Israel. What we're doing now is just [26:57] giving them a official construct and a [27:00] political home. [27:01] >> A voice. Sure. [27:02] >> A voice. That's it. That's all. It's I [27:04] quote the Balshamto very often in my [27:06] speeches about this party because the [27:07] Balshamto said who was the he founded [27:09] the kidic movement when he was doing so [27:12] he said this is something that's that [27:13] seems new but is really very old and I [27:16] think that that's very applicable to [27:17] this party as well is that we're new [27:19] we're a new party but really the values [27:21] that we're espousing are values that go [27:23] back even to the Ashkanazi communities [27:24] of Europe these are people that have [27:26] lived their lives like this already for [27:27] many decades and years and there are [27:29] many thousands of them so it's something [27:31] new but really very old [27:32] >> it's like Zionism Right. Theodore Herzel [27:34] was starting something new that was also [27:37] very old. I mean that's literally what [27:39] he he you know he's called his book the [27:41] uh the new land. Right. Right. [27:44] >> Where and Tel Aviv is you know it's the [27:47] same kind of theme throughout [27:48] >> exactly [27:49] >> modern Israeli history is that we feel [27:51] like we're doing something very new but [27:53] in reality this is we're just back in [27:56] our land and rediscovering things about [27:59] ourselves that we forgot. And that [28:01] brings uh me to something that I say all [28:03] the time, which is that I think that the [28:04] CIO party is part of a greater trend [28:07] that's happening since October 7th. And [28:09] that trend is something I call Israel [28:11] 2.0. What do I mean by that? Israel as a [28:14] country because we had to come up [28:16] instantaneously, right? When the the the [28:19] state was created, [28:20] >> instantaneously. [28:20] >> Instantaneously. You didn't have time to [28:22] think of what's the best way to run [28:23] things, what's the smartest way to do [28:25] things. They needed to be absorbing [28:27] immigrants, having an existential war [28:29] for their existence, and everything you [28:30] need to be working by the next morning. [28:32] >> Right. [28:32] >> Right. So, what's happened is that we've [28:34] just perpetuated decisions that were [28:36] made on the fly. And what people are [28:38] ready for now in a post October 7th [28:40] world and what we've learned since [28:42] October 7th is that it's time for us to [28:45] go back. We're the high-tech nation of [28:46] the world. We're the defense leader of [28:48] the world. It's time for us to go back [28:50] and think of how we should should be [28:53] doing these things, how best to be doing [28:54] these things. what's the smartest way to [28:56] do these things? We have the talent to [28:57] figure this out and a lot of people are [28:59] seeking out those changes across across [29:02] every, you know, ministry across across [29:05] the board in Israeli government. They're [29:07] looking for that change. They don't want [29:08] to be just perpetuating the same [29:10] mistakes and the same philosophies. They [29:12] want to be thinking how ideally and how [29:14] optimally should we be doing this? And [29:15] that's what this is part of. [29:16] >> And that's what this podcast is is for. [29:20] Universal Zionism or the Universal [29:22] Zionist podcast is to discuss these [29:24] trends that are happening in Israel. And [29:26] I wrote a book also uh my response to [29:29] October 7th was not nearly as uh as [29:32] noteworthy as yours. I wrote a book, [29:34] you're running for Kesset, but um I [29:37] traced these different stages of the [29:40] Zionist movement going back actually to [29:42] the Torah, to the Bible. And the first [29:45] phase was this political Zionism, just [29:48] figuring it out, building a country and [29:50] an army and a government. Political [29:52] Zionism. The second stage is religious [29:54] Zionism where we realize that we're not [29:57] here just to be a nation like all other [29:59] nations. We're here with a unique [30:00] God-given mission to be uh the Jewish [30:04] people back in our land of Israel. And [30:06] what I'm arguing in universal Zionism is [30:08] that's not the final. It's not Israel [30:11] 2.0. It's actually like a 3.0. I know is [30:14] that now that we are here and we realize [30:16] that we're different and if we didn't [30:17] realize that we're different our enemies [30:19] have [30:19] >> right reminded us well [30:21] >> yeah every single day that we are [30:23] different and that they're not going to [30:25] accept us in the nation uh of the [30:27] community of nations which is our goal [30:29] our goal is actually to be a light into [30:31] the nations and so the third phase is [30:33] universal Zionism we're really meant to [30:35] be a light into the nations and orim and [30:38] we're meant to spread the blessing of [30:40] Israel beyond the Jewish community that [30:42] beyond the Jewish people but to the [30:44] whole world and certainly the karedi [30:46] element of that story is is is missing [30:50] from the mission and and I hope that [30:53] what you're describing is that it's [30:56] coming this wave of [30:59] who have been so dedicated and to [31:02] committed to Torah study and to [31:05] observance of Torah are now coming to [31:09] society and saying we have so much to [31:12] offer offer not only to the state of [31:15] Israel but really to the whole world. [31:17] >> Absolutely. And what I love about that [31:19] what you're saying is that one of the [31:21] things my favorite things that I've seen [31:23] since October 7th is the realization [31:26] that we all came to which is that [31:28] everybody needs to contribute their best [31:30] selves to the greater cause and the [31:32] greater good. Right? We're all parts of [31:34] a puzzle and everybody had to contribute [31:36] their best selves and their piece. So [31:38] you're writing your book and my working [31:40] with the defense establishment. [31:41] Everybody was doing what they could do. [31:42] There was people who, you know, they [31:44] were organizing all the donations. There [31:46] were people who were running the uh the [31:48] day camps for kids while they were out [31:49] of school. And there were people who [31:51] were delivering meals to soldiers. There [31:53] were people who were bringing religious [31:54] artifacts to soldier, you know, like [31:55] religious items to soldiers. Everybody [31:57] was doing their best selves to [31:59] contribute to the cause. And that was [32:01] beautiful to see. And I was very [32:02] privileged to be able to have a front [32:04] row seat to see a lot of that. people [32:06] around the world just absolutely opened [32:08] their hearts, opened their minds, opened [32:10] their pockets and changed the entire [32:12] trajectory of not just the war but [32:15] Israel as a country and that was one of [32:17] the most beautiful things I saw uh in [32:19] the aftermath of October 7th. So let's [32:22] talk a little bit about the challenges [32:23] that your party is facing because you [32:26] know you have these legacy parties or [32:29] you have you know not only in the karedi [32:30] community but you have liken control for [32:35] I don't 30 years basically it's hard [32:38] breaking into the system right and in [32:42] addition to that there are some [32:44] technical rules that make it even harder [32:46] for a new party to succeed you have a [32:49] threshold right so that, you know, if I [32:52] wanted to start a party, the universal [32:54] Zionist party, right? So, I would go out [32:56] and everybody here at Israel 365 would [32:58] vote and we would get 25 votes. No, we [33:00] would probably hopefully get more than [33:01] that, but you can't get into the Knesset [33:04] just with, you know, a great idea. All [33:06] right. You have to have a minimum amount [33:10] of voters. So, tell us a little bit [33:11] about that threshold and how that is [33:14] presenting a challenge to the party. [33:18] Well, the threshold was created to sort [33:20] of minimize the ability for small [33:21] parties to get in. It was meant to [33:23] protect the larger parties. So, it is [33:26] definitely challenged [33:27] >> the system. You can't have an, you know, [33:30] there's 38 parties that are running in [33:32] the can. You can't have a functioning [33:34] government with 38 different [33:36] >> interest. We're seeing the challenges of [33:38] the Israeli system in general to be able [33:40] to form a government. meaning we're [33:42] getting to a point where uh the [33:43] assumption that people have is that [33:45] there will be elections and there won't [33:46] be a government that comes from them [33:48] because they won't be able to [33:49] successfully form a coalition. So it's [33:51] uh [33:52] >> so okay so there's a threshold that [33:54] >> there's electoral threshold that you [33:56] have to pass [33:56] >> and which is [33:57] >> it's over 3%. [33:58] >> Right. So [33:59] >> so you have to be able to bring in about [34:03] 180 to 190,000 votes in order to be able [34:05] to get into the Kesset. So the way it [34:07] works essentially is is if you pass the [34:09] threshold, you have what's what's the [34:11] equivalent of four mandates, meaning [34:12] four seats in the Knesset. Um you don't [34:15] get in if you get less than that. So it [34:17] does make it very [clears throat] [34:19] 175,000 [34:21] votes. [34:21] >> And exactly not get in not pass the [34:24] threshold. [34:24] >> And not only not pass the threshold, but [34:26] then those votes basically are wasted [34:31] >> to me. Again, I I I know that that's the [34:34] um the slogan that's been thrown out by [34:35] some of the larger parties, which is the [34:37] wasted votes. To me, I think that when [34:39] people are voting for their passions and [34:41] their ideals, I don't know how you could [34:44] call it a wasted vote. And and I think [34:45] that that's very applicable to the Torah [34:47] party. I think that what we've we've [34:49] started on is a very historic path and [34:53] it is going to be a journey, but I think [34:55] that it is a historic process that [34:57] needed to happen. We didn't have time to [35:00] wait for um for this party to we we [35:03] could have started this party just as a [35:05] municipal party. We could have started [35:06] it next elections. But we knew that even [35:09] though we were coming in later than [35:11] other parties had and we had to cover in [35:14] a month what other parties covered in 8 [35:16] to nine months even longer. We knew that [35:18] this party needed to exist and it needed [35:20] to exist now. We didn't have the time to [35:22] wait. It needed to be this election. [35:24] These decisions are happening now and [35:26] the Karedi world needed to have a seat [35:29] at the table of the overall Israeli [35:31] population and the Israeli politics that [35:33] it does not really have now and that was [35:36] not something that we could wait on. So [35:38] we knew that we had to be the first ones [35:40] to uh like the biblical story of the [35:42] splitting of the sea. There was the [35:44] first person who went in his name was in [35:46] Hebrew. So we knew that we had to be [35:48] that and we had to jump into the the [35:50] waters first and that that was going to [35:51] come with its set of challenges. But we [35:54] also knew sorry I need water but uh but [35:57] we also knew that um there was thousands [36:00] of people that were looking for this [36:02] solution and we knew that we had to be [36:04] the ones to give them that voice. [36:06] >> So even if you know you you even if um [36:11] you don't pass the threshold this time [36:13] around. So then in other words it wasn't [36:16] a failure. [36:17] >> No absolutely not. This is a genie that [36:19] cannot be put back in a bottle and there [36:21] is a historic movement that is happening [36:23] now amongst the ultra or ultraorththodox [36:25] population that needs to happen. So um [36:28] no matter what happens with the [36:30] elections, we know that this is a [36:31] process and we're very much here for the [36:33] long term and we know that this is [36:34] something that is going to be gaining [36:37] tremendous momentum and it already has. [36:39] I mean the I you know I was talking to [36:41] you before we got on the podcast that [36:43] the momentum behind this party is is [36:44] moved from remarkable and exceptional to [36:47] supernatural. [36:48] >> Wow. [36:49] >> And and that's what we're seeing. [36:50] >> That's amazing. I know I personally know [36:53] several of the people involved with the [36:54] party which is why I'm particularly [36:57] excited. Obviously, I live in Bamesh, so [36:59] I'm seeing firsthand the the fact that [37:03] the, you know, the Karedi integration in [37:07] Israeli society is very, very possible. [37:09] Not only is it possible, it's happening [37:11] in Bamesh. And so, it's a it's a great [37:13] example to see firsthand somebody who's [37:15] not Karedi, but to see that people are [37:18] our neighbors and it's fine. Everything [37:20] is great. Usually usually sometimes [37:23] there's some extremists but um you have [37:27] attracted some of the most impressive [37:31] and open-minded Karedi people to be at [37:34] the leadership of your party and I [37:35] wanted to especially call out Rabbi Yitk [37:38] Adlerstein who is I believe number six [37:40] in the party who is somebody who is um [37:44] we've had on the podcast but Rabbi [37:46] Adlerstein is a pioneer in interfaith [37:50] work in interfaith relations and as [37:53] somebody who has been saying for decades [37:55] is that the Orthodox are the best ones [37:58] to represent Judaism outside of the [38:00] Jewish community and don't leave this in [38:02] the hands of the of secular Jews or [38:05] conservative or reformed Jews who don't [38:07] speak with the same authentic Torah [38:09] voice. it should be the Orthodox and he [38:12] has been a lone voice in the wilderness [38:14] kind of u proclaiming that and [38:17] representing Torah values out way and [38:20] well outside of the Jewish community for [38:23] many many years and it's amazing that he [38:25] is involved with the party. [38:27] >> He is absolutely fantastic. Yeah, we're [38:30] big fans. [laughter] [38:31] >> So, Rabbi Adlerstein is involved and [38:33] Rabbi Yahosua Feffer who is also [38:35] somebody who uh is a pioneer in [38:40] Karedi advocacy and just helping the [38:43] Karedi community [38:46] integrate with not only Israeli society [38:49] but the world and he's a real deep [38:51] thinker who um he is so impressive but [38:57] his work with in the Karedi society [39:00] helping to found Nal Karedi the original [39:05] Karedi army unit that he helped found [39:08] many years ago. He's a scholar of the [39:10] Kared community. He really is. He's so [39:12] well thought out. He's so well spoken. [39:14] He knows the history of everything. So [39:16] besides being just a scholar personally [39:19] in general, he's he's a judge. He's a [39:21] lawyer. He's he clerked for the Supreme [39:23] Court. He's a rabbi. He has tremendous [39:25] Tammudic knowledge. He is just a scholar [39:28] of so many uh so many things. But he is [39:31] a he has studied the Karedi world and [39:35] its trends and its needs. and he is just [39:37] a wealth of information and leadership. [39:40] >> So you have people like yourself, people [39:43] like Rabbi Feffer, people like Rabbi [39:45] Adlerstein, I don't know much Lightner, [39:47] but um it sounds like he's a pretty [39:50] amazing person also. And um so people [39:53] who have who are living in the community [39:55] who are deeply deeply in aware of all of [40:00] the nuance and the complications but [40:02] have and certainly on the societal level [40:04] but also from a Torah perspective you're [40:07] not cutting any corners. You're not [40:09] compromising on any principles [40:12] but you are out there saying that [40:14] there's something that has to change. [40:16] You know, war is the mother of necessity [40:19] and something has to give and something [40:21] has to change and that's that's so [40:23] refreshing. [40:24] >> Yeah, it it's amazing because you know, [40:26] by the way, Rabbi Feffer says about Mati [40:28] Lightner that if he gets into the [40:29] Knesset, he'll be the smartest person in [40:30] the Knesset. Uh he's a very very skilled [40:34] uh thinker and orator and politician as [40:38] well. So very amazing. We have also Dr. [40:42] who she herself studied the Karedi [40:44] community and did dissertations on it in [40:46] Harvard and Princeton. [40:47] >> Wow. [40:47] >> Yeah. So, we have really a wealth of [40:49] talents, amazing staff and team and I'm [40:52] just very privileged and proud to be [40:55] part of that first team that's coming in [40:57] to try to make this change. It's uh it's [41:00] an honor. It's really an honor to be [41:01] with them. [41:02] >> Yeah. Well, best of luck to you and uh [41:05] thank you for joining us, Zea, for the [41:07] Universal Zionist podcast. [41:09] >> Thank you so much.
