Inside Israel Today: Labor's Kippa in the Knesset

you're listening to inside Israel today with your Hoffman on the land of Israel Network hello and welcome to inside Israel today here on the land of Israel calm and we are broadcasting from here in Jerusalem as the election on April 9th comes closer and we are continuing our series of meeting the most fascinating candidates that are being chosen in each and every party and last week I had the good fortune of being able to cover the surprisingly interesting and successful Labour Party primary people said that that the Labour members weren't going to come out to vote and sure enough they did they had about the same voter turnout as the Likud and people said they're going to vote for the same old candidates that they've had before and sure enough they picked for a high spot in the list the eighth most votes went to yeah ear yaaaa Fink who it is fascinating candidate and I'm happy that he is here on inside Israel today yeah yeah thank you for coming on our show thank you very much for inviting me okay so please tell us about yourself I'm 34 years old I'm from Jerusalem originally and I was born and raised in Jerusalem I learned in the yeshiva of the religious kyboot in the Malaga braum right by a an I'm an officer in the paratroopers my did my degrees in the Hebrew University and I worked also I was a head of staff of sri simha beach and i am i established also i helped to establish the cooperated bank Orphic and i was an established a lobby ninety nine four years ago that NGO grassroots that tries to fight against the 215 lobby of the big firms of the big companies like the banks and the insurance firms so I established Lobby 99 that works too the interests of the 99% of the public so that's the main stuff I did in the last let's say 10 years okay now as the listeners to this show and the readers of The Jerusalem Post know we do our best to promote whatever can come close to being representatives of English speakers from around the world and it is and in Israel in the Knesset last night you teed chose a list in which the highest placed Anglo representative is number 18 on the list which does not bode very well the Likud had Anglo candidates to choose from and rejected them you are a citizen of the United States explain your connections to the Anglo community my parents were born and raised in the United States my father's from Scranton Pennsylvania and my mom is from Brooklyn and they made Ally I and there in 68 I'm also my sister and my brother were born in the States so I was born and raised in Jerusalem but my connection to the United States is pretty tight and also my big brother yeol is a professor in MIT did leave Dave so I'm Israeli citizens and an American citizen and I'm proud of both of them and what will you do as a representative of those people I think that the Anglo community is a very important community in Israel and also a very big community and most of the messages in the political environment an area or not uh or not enough let's say connected and or none I'm not sure like we don't put the message as right as we're supposed to do it to the American community so I think that's the first thing to to know there are a hundred of thousands here that we need to talk to them and speak to them also in English and also the stuff that are bothered them and I think also one other goal is to untie the connection with Jews all over the world and particularly in in the United I think one of the big problems of the right government we have in Israel the last four years and that they're taking Jews far away from Israel they're breaking the net and the connection that we are we were supposed to have with all the Jews or if they're secular or reformed or conservative and I want to make that a bridge to build a bridge once again between the State of Israel and the Jews in the Bay Area and that will certainly be a challenge now you also wear a kippah and while there is Revitol suede who is also religious and it has been in the Knesset for the last four years and was just re-elected to a realistic slot on the labor lists there is not going to keep in the labor list or on the left at all since Avram Borg well how would you handle matters of religion and state differently as a member of Knesset so I love the Jew Jewish also the Jews and us from the Judaism and I love the rail Israel and our state but I think that people that love also the Judaism and also the state need to promote a separation between the religion and the state I think the connection between them bad also for the state and also for the religion so that's the first thing in my goal and my motto is more juries in and less coercion converge and less coercion because I think that a coercion is one of the main obstacles that take people far away from the from the Judy even so let's say I think when I go to shul on Friday night there is no reason that people cannot have public transportation on Shabbat maybe not as the usual ever regular day but I think that a thing that could also get people even closer to the duties and because they there's a lot of good stuff and peace and love and stuff that people don't know about Jewish tradition and I think that more Duty them and less coercion that's my main let's say mode or main goal that I want to promote as a member of the Knesset and you do that in your house as well yeah as well my religious Orthodox and my wife they're somewhere between secular and let's say masala tea and so we we do it as well also in our private house ladies and gentlemen they're different candidates gave out different things on Election Day to persuade people to vote for them to knock when shy gave out pens which apparently was not a very effective way of getting people to vote for him Revitol suede gave out M&Ms with her face on it which was better they robbed me Ellie gave out fortune cookies and inside there were fortunes of what would happen if she would be reelected with my fortune that I got said that I would have another child and she would get me paternity leave which freaked out my wife who I don't think we're gonna be having another child though I do recommend paternity leave and I am either paternity leave I took with my last child was the best days of my life but Yaya gave out keep oat with the words of a half talladega como Han it love your neighbor as yourself which was a very special unique thing to do that uh I I guess must have made an impression on people and it was not expected to see in the Labor Party primary out of all parties and that that leads to the question yeah why the Labour Party why should listeners that that are eligible to vote here cast ballots for labour and I think that in the politics are they've also here and also all over the world people are trying to take the ideology out of a politics just to bring people that look good or that could be in reality but um in the Labour Party we still have ideology and if you're a person that comes and goes to vote for ideology so I think the Labour Party has three main flags the first flag is um trying to separate some of the Palestinians to get here Jewish and a democracy state with um with you know a lot of do Jews but also a lot of democracy and there's no other option than the two-state solution that's our first flag the second flag of economic issues we want to let's say mind the gap between rich and people and rich rich and poor people and not be one of the highest-ranked all over the world in gaps between rich and poor people and the third thing as we spoke before if the religion and state issues we believe in more Judaism and less and let's go cook quote it so that's I think their main three flag of the Labour Party and other of the party they're not exactly you don't know maybe except a very cool Dan minutes but in the center there are a lot of party that you're not sure exactly who were they are was there for and each thing that they write or say to the press afterwards they give three or four press release that they're not exactly what they said and they want to explain themselves so the Labour Party you know the way and that's I think the main we even to vote for the Labour Party if you're in the center left of the Israeli map could you just elaborate on the issue of the people living in Judea and Samaria and the West Bank and you of neighbor you have friends you have relatives living there you're in favor of evacuating them of how many of the keeping blocks not keeping blocks well what's your point of view on that I'm not favor of evacuating them I don't want to evacuate them but I think there's not any other option I don't know another option that could promise Israel keeping and going as a Jewish and a democracy state so I think the only solution beer there the option to do it if to make to stay for two people they're supposed to be there and we're here and sadly we will need to evacuate not too many but part of the settler that are now that are now over the Green Line exactly how many two we're thus in negotiation and our goal is to evacuate as less as we can but as there is no other solution than the two-state okay my last question is just to point out again everything I've done this too much but on the show last week when I was talking about what happened behind the scenes in the Labour primary I did point out again how your mother stood there 75 years old outside the polling station for eleven hours telling people I'm EAJA Fink's mother you will vote for him did that work did that is that what put you over the top did you get all the votes at the Jerusalem polling station I had 210 volunteers but the best volunteer was my mom and I love my mom and she was there for 11 hours we don't know the exactly result by each polling station but I'm pretty sure that she was my secret weapon absolutely wonderful yeah yeah thank you for coming on inside Israel today on the Land of Israel calm thank you very much we're going to a break after the break ladies and gentlemen we'll have more from behind the scenes in Israeli politics for Rosh Chodesh Aadhaar bet this coming new moon we are doing the Land of Israel Network Sabaton at the Dead Sea called the Israel inspired retreat where there's going to be Torah study and connection and meditation and prayer and we're going to be able to connect and to talk about everything that's going on in Israel today on spiritual levels it's going to be a really special weekend you can find out about it on the land of Israel dot travel that's the Land of Israel dot travel you can see all the details there we'd love to have you join us adverb AK here on inside Israel today on the Land of Israel network on the Land of Israel com where the election on April 9th is coming closer and closer this is the big week because on Thursday night at 10 p.m. Israel time is the last moment for candidates to be submitted for lists of parties and and candidates to be submitted to the central Elections Committee as we stand here 61 hours before that deadline there are already representatives of two new parties who are sitting outside the Knesset have been since last night sleeping there in the Jerusalem cold waiting to be the first permitted in to the Knesset with their requests for what it would say on the ballots for their parties that's how intense it is and as we speak also the parties are doing what they were pretending to do over the last two months of making the political mergers and bonds necessary to win the election they always were saying we're trying but it will really all come down to the last couple days well we're there ladies and gentlemen now the parties are talking whichever parties make bonds will help themselves and whichever parties end up running on their own could end up under that bitter 3.25% electoral threshold and not make it into the Knesset we've already seen our first casualty of the threshold Tzipi Livni who's been in the Knesset since 1999 will not be in the next Knesset because there was no party that wanted to merge with her hats who knew our party she was unceremoniously kicked out of the Labour Party that ran together with her as the Zionist Union in the last election four years ago and then she tried to pitch herself to various parties they all said no they didn't want to work with her because of her personality perhaps because of her politics and that left her running alone and running alone she had only half a percent in the polls that were announced on Sunday night half a percent when you need 3.25% she was clearly not going to be making it up and she did not want her votes to be thrown in the garbage and so I attended yesterday her press conference in Tel Aviv now I came into this press conference a little angry I gotta tell you the truth because when I got there they told me she's not taking questions okay I came all the way from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv dropped everything to cover this press conference I brought along with me another reporter from a another Israeli newspaper who also lives in Jerusalem the first person I saw when I walked into the room was another reporter from another newspaper in Israel who lives in Jerusalem the three of us made the effort to go there you can at least let us ask questions and I knew what would happen and ended up did happening which was that at 8 o'clock at night when we have our highly rated Nightly News Tzipi Livni gave interviews to the anchors of all three television stations I don't know how she was on all three at the same time it seems to me physically impossible but she managed to do it even though their studios are not close to each other and they got to ask whatever they wanted so I came in to this press conference a little justifiably angry at her and then though I listened to what she said and regardless of where you are in the political map and I know the overwhelming majority of the listeners of this show and of this network are not where Tippie live Nia's on the political map you had to feel for this woman because she's there crying at her not accomplishing anything that she wanted to accomplish in 20 years in politics she wanted there to be a two-state solution which rightly or wrongly she thinks is necessary for Israel to remain a Jewish Democratic state but for demographic reasons that Maher right the act you know right may may or may not be accurate she wanted to preserve Israeli democracy at a time when Netanyahu is taking steps that from her opinion make Israel less democratic and she's not only not accomplish those things during those 20 years in politics now she won't have an opportunity to try to accomplish them in the next term and who knows if she'll be able to make a political comeback you know in Israel that you never say never it would Barack he's still trying to make a political comeback at the age of 77 and when he ran for Labour Party leader when my daughter was a baby inside the snugly you know when I took her to cover him voting in the the labor Branch in Jerusalem and he comes up to my baby and tells her you're going to vote for me when I'm Shimon Peres his age and he is not yet he's good seven years away still from being the age that Shimon Peres was at the time and my daughter just had her Bat Mitzvah so you can never rule out political comebacks but the reason why the parties didn't want her was because she had trouble working with other people in the past she didn't get along with people she brought in new people every time she switched a party and then she would abandon them and when she would move to a new party she treated very professional very successful politicians terribly and I can understand party leaders not wanting to have her there anymore so it's pretty unlikely that she will be able to make a political comeback in the future maybe she'd become some international figure maybe in the United Nations or some other international organization but whether you like to if you live in these politics or not she worked hard over the last 20 years and she behaved professionally and respectably during that time except last night when she gave those interviews after not taking questions at a press conference but the world has changed and the media has changed in Israel and it's in fashion to treat reporters poorly and we'll see if Netanyahu ends up giving any interviews at all to the mainstream media during this election campaign so it is what it is this is what it's like being a reporter inside Israel today stay tuned for next week when we will introduce you to another candidate perhaps the by tud National Union new right parties that I have not been able to interview anyone from because it's not been clear who their candidates are now you have to tell everyone by Thursday so hopefully I'll be able to find a representative of those parties now that we'll know who the candidates will be to interview next week inside is today have a great day and a great week from here in Jerusalem the question is why are the Jews there in the first place the Jewish people have been yearning to return to their ancient homeland for a long time they Yishai fleischer show the voice of a new generation of pro-israel activist and there's only two kinds of minorities in Middle East armed or unarmed inspiring Minds to think differently that jihadism doesn't just attack Jews it attacks Christians and it mostly attacks Muslims inspiration spirituality and politics so first and foremost this country is we're here to defend Jewish people and to live in a sense estriol homeland listen to the he Shai Fleischer show every week on the Land of Israel network at the Land of Israel dot-com