Former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan on Thursday announced the launch of a new right-wing political party, declaring that it will champion universal national service while working to establish a broad Zionist coalition government.
Standing alongside Erdan at the announcement was Yuli Edelstein, the former Knesset Speaker and former chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, signaling a high-profile partnership at the party’s debut.
Erdan said his movement would refuse to participate in a narrow coalition and reaffirmed his longstanding ideological convictions. “My entire life, I have been a right-winger. I never zig-zagged. I believe in the land of Israel, in settlement, and in governance, and I fiercely oppose the creation of a Palestinian state.”
He also said he hopes to restore values he believes have been diminished within Israel’s right-wing camp. Erdan stated that he “believes that the time has come to return to the right what it lost in recent years, responsibility, the glory of the Beitar movement, and mutual respect. I vehemently oppose the left’s views. But I never hated those who thought differently from me. I never spoke about their ethnicity, family, or lifestyle. Since a political opponent is not an enemy. Our enemies are in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon.”
A central plank of the new party’s platform, Erdan said, will be advancing mandatory military or national service for all Israeli citizens. He pledged to promote legislation known as “Basic Law: Service,” which would require universal participation in either military or civilian national service.
Explaining the proposal, Erdan argued that the current system creates unequal obligations among different sectors of Israeli society. He said that “every citizen will serve in military or national service. It can not be that a young man from Umm al-Fahm can begin academic studies at the age of 18, while a young man from Ofakim can only do so after three years of IDF service. It can’t be that a Torah and mitzvah observant young man from Bnei Brak would not shoulder the load while a Torah and mitzvah observant young man from Ofra risks his life in Lebanon.”
Wrapping up his remarks, Erdan rejected what he described as a false choice between supporting the nationalist camp and backing equal national service obligations. “For years, they tried to convince you that you have to choose; that if you want a nationalist government, you need to give up on the equal share in the burden of service. That if you want settlements, you have to give up on service for all. And I tell you this evening: this is a false choice, this is not right-wing or equal service, the true right is enlistment and sharing the burden of service.”
He concluded by insisting that the principles of strengthening Jewish communities and requiring service from all citizens can coexist. “It is not settlements or service for everyone. It is settlements and service for everyone. Anyone who tells you that you have to choose between these values is trapped in yesterday’s politics. Anyone stuck in the politics of the two blocs is tearing the country apart. If you want solutions to the enormous challenges facing Israel, we are your home.”
{Matzav.com}