“Weare Leftists. We were born in Israel, we were in youth movements, we served in the army, did reserve duty, fought in wars -- and we think that this land must be divided now. Today. We are convinced that Ben-Gurion was right, that we are here because the Bible is our deed to our beloved land. We detest capitalist pigs, and we are moved when the Israeli flag is raised and when the IDF band plays our national anthem.”

The National Left is a political initiative conceived by playwright Shmuel Hasfari and attorney Eldad Yaniv. Its goal: awaken and unite the activists and supporters of the Israeli, national Left – into a great and vast base, again.

The Left is Zionism, and the only way to keep Israel both Jewish and democratic. It’s about time we go back to being that great base, like the one that won the 1992 elections with Yitzhak Rabin. Because Israel needs it. Because if the Right continues on its post-Zionist path of “one country between the Jordan River and the sea”, of piggish capitalism, the State of Israel we know and love will cease to be.
The Left wants peace (but not at any price). It wants a capitalist-free,just society. And it wants a State of Israel that is a role model for the world and the Jewish people.

The initiative stands on these 3 pillars:

1. An immediate end to occupation in the West Bank, and a partition of the land:

 

Dividing up this land, now, and ending the occupation – a true Leftist cannot and would not want to control other people; he does not want to be an occupier, but rather defend his country from within its borders. Atrue Leftist does not ask the occupied to surrender before he decides to end his occupation. A true Leftist stops being an occupier - by himself and by his own volition and by his own initiative, even without abilateral agreement:

"Israel is a democratic Jewish state. If we stay in the Occupied Territories, we will have to choose: either Jewish or democratic. Both together won't work, because in a democracy the majority rules and soon the Arabs will be the majority between the Jordan River and the sea. If we want to remain a Jewish state, we will have to deny the rights of themajority and we will turn into an apartheid state. If we insist on remaining democratic, an Arab prime minister will soon be elected by a majority of votes."
(From The National Left: a 1st draft)

2. A return to a just, social-democratic economy:

A true Leftist cannot and would not want to live in a society that treats residents of development towns as third-rate citizens, and residents of Arab villages even worse. A true Leftist cannot and would not want to live in a country with such tremendous gaps, like those between Tel-Aviv and development towns, while money is being squandered by the billions, in vain, outside the Green Line.
“You're simply the only country in the Western world that allows the rich to be such unembarrassed, disgusting and greedy pigs. We are not against the rich. We are against pigs, against the ostentatious, againstthose biblical cows of Bashan. The Left detests pigs. The Left detests exploitation. The Left detests pigs who dress up as Leftists. How does the capitalist make his wealth? He goes to the Stock Exchange and makesa living off of the average guy's fantasies.”
(From The National Left: a 1st draft)

3. Establishing an exemplary society:

 

Rebuilding the Jewish democratic state and society – a true Leftist wants to live in a country where no one is held as lesser or better. Everyone is worth exactly the same, everyone has to put in their share, and everyone is equally deserving.

“Like a true Left, Rabin spurned the obvious and paved roads by the kilometer and built interchanges and bridges, so that the South and the North would be closer to Tel Aviv. He proved what the Left should be. With a sweep of the pen, he moved billions from the budget clause we’ll call "The Territories" to a clause we shall call "Rectifying the injustice." From that moment on, everything changed, albeit not enough,and not precisely according to schedule, but exactly according to what an enlightened, egalitarian, just, and wise Left should be.”
(From The National Left: a 1st draft)


Click here to read, download and share the full First Draft of the National Left in English.