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Israel First – Security, Economy, Unity of the People of Israel

Israel First led by Sharren Haskel
Leader
Sharren Haskel
List
Israel First led by Sharren Haskel
Researched as of
October 7, 2026

Overview

Founding. Israel First (Hebrew: Yisrael Tchila) is a new right-wing party. MK Sharren Haskel announced it on 15 July 2026, one day after she resigned as deputy foreign minister [4]. She resigned on 14 July 2026, after the Knesset passed a law that freezes the arrest and prosecution of Haredi men who have not enlisted in the IDF [7, 8, 9]. She also left the New Hope party, which had been her faction [7]. The party has no predecessor party and has not run in an earlier election. Before the launch, it had run a digital campaign called "The Right Opens Its Eyes" without revealing who was behind it [6].

Ideology and base. Haskel describes the party as "a security, national and liberal right" and says it is aimed at anyone who defines themselves as Zionist and refuses "compromises at the expense of those who serve" [5]. The party's five stated principles are strong security and victory without compromise, a free economy, education for excellence, wider civil liberties, and Zionist unity in government [4]. Haskel says she is "very hawkish on security" and "extremely liberal on the economic side – less taxes, less regulation, less government involvement, less bureaucracy" [13]. The voters she targets are right-leaning people who, in her words, feel "politically homeless" [4, 13, 17]. Her central point of difference from other right-wing parties is the demand that Haredi men serve, and the refusal to pass exemption legislation [14].

Current Knesset seats. Israel First holds no Knesset seats as a party, because it has not competed before. Its leader is a sitting member of the outgoing 25th Knesset, which dissolved in July 2026 ahead of the 27 October 2026 election [7, 8]. In that Knesset, Haskel sat for New Hope, which had been part of the National Unity alliance led by Benny Gantz [17]. She asked to be recognized as a separate one-member faction. The High Court of Justice dismissed her petition on 9 August 2026, mainly because it was filed late [24, 25].

The list and ballot letter. The party runs under the list name "Israel First led by Sharren Haskel" with the ballot letter י [3]. The full registered name on the Central Elections Committee (CEC) page is "Israel First – Security, Economy, Unity of the People of Israel" [2]. The CEC page shows 12 candidates and names only Israel First as the submitting party [2].

Joint-run note. This is not a joint list of several registered parties. However, on 3 September 2026 Israel First and the cannabis-law-reform party Green Leaf (Ale Yarok) announced they would run together. Nir Yoftaro, whom Walla and the party's website call Green Leaf's chair, is No. 3 on the Israel First list [1, 2, 10]. Israel Hayom describes him as the party's chief executive, appointed by its founder and chair Boaz Wachtel to lead its list [11]. Green Leaf was founded in 1999 [11]. No earlier joint run of Haskel and Green Leaf was found, so there is no history of a split between them. The CEC page itself does not list Green Leaf as a submitting party [2].

Polling

Polling average: 0.2% (as of September 22, 2026). Source: Mean of 3 polls published 2026-09-16 to 2026-09-22

This list is polling below the electoral threshold (3.25%): average 0.2% as of September 22, 2026.

Polls included in the average

Leadership and key candidates

Leader: Sharren Haskel. Haskel is 42 [7]. She was born in Canada, moved to Israel as a baby, served as a border guard in the IDF, and trained as a veterinary nurse in Australia [39]. She says she was the first female Knesset member to have served as a combat soldier [39]. Her political path was as follows:

  • 2015 to 2020, Likud. She entered the Knesset on the Likud ticket in 2015 and chaired the Knesset's LGBT caucus in her first term [7]. She left Likud in December 2020 [39].
  • 2020 to 2026, New Hope. She joined Gideon Sa'ar's New Hope party in 2020 [7].
  • New Hope in the 25th Knesset. New Hope was part of the National Unity alliance. It entered the war coalition after the October 7 attack and left in March 2024. It rejoined the government in September 2024. In March 2025 Sa'ar signed an agreement to merge New Hope into Likud [17].
  • Deputy foreign minister, 2024 to 2026. She was appointed deputy foreign minister in 2024 [7]. She was put in charge of over NIS 545 million for improving Israel's public image abroad [16]. She resigned on 14 July 2026 [7].
  • Haskel opposed the merger with Likud. She said joining Likud was not an option for her [13], and she petitioned the High Court as an MK opposed to the merger [24]. In September 2025 she said many security hawks and economic conservatives were "politically homeless" [17].
  • Notable legislation. She sponsored a law setting minimum sentences for illegal-weapons offences, which passed in December 2021 [41]. She submitted bills to open the honey market to competition [40] and to legalize cannabis [39]. As chair of the Knesset Education Committee, she chaired the June 2022 session that approved regulations ending cages for egg-laying hens from 2037 [42].

Top candidates on the CEC list (the CEC page and the party's own site) [1, 2]:

  • No. 2, Roey (Roi) Danino. A reserve lieutenant colonel, businessman and commentator on security and economics on Channel 14 and Kan 11. He joined the party on 2 August 2026. He is 40, a division staff officer who fought with the Nahal Brigade, and he served more than 600 days of reserve duty during the war [12]. The party said he would focus on reducing regulation, lowering the cost of living and helping reservists and small businesses [14].
  • No. 3, Nir Yoftaro. Green Leaf's leader and a long-time medical-cannabis and legalization activist [1, 10, 11]. He says he has faced arrests and indictments over the years because of his activism [11].
  • No. 4, Wail Mugrabi. Head of the Ein Qiniyye local council [1]. Ynet's coverage of Druze candidates in the 2026 election describes him as seeking to position the list as a bloc that connects the large parties [43].
  • No. 5, Amit Adi Peder. The daughter of Moshe Peder, who was killed by anti-tank fire near the Gaza Strip in 2019 [1].
  • No. 6, Tomer Yitzhak Brok (ברוק). A reserve lieutenant colonel who commanded Battalion 8149, fought on October 7, and was wounded by sniper fire in Jenin. He works in high-tech [1, 2].
  • No. 7, Harry Jack Rosenberg. A rabbi and entrepreneur, a co-founder of Trippy.VC [1].
  • No. 8, Pinhas "Pini" Bino. A strategist and political adviser, formerly head of the national field headquarters of the New Right party [1].
  • Nos. 9 to 12. Kfir Levi (9), Alon Mengistu (10), Daniel Alejandro Parkas (11) and Adir Pahlavani (12) [1, 2]. No published biographies were found for them.

Jonathan Pollard. Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy civilian intelligence analyst, announced on 23 August 2026 that he was joining Israel First [14, 15]. He pleaded guilty to passing classified information to Israel and was sentenced to life in 1987. He was released on parole after 30 years and moved to Israel in 2020 [14]. He does not appear among the 12 names on the CEC page [2]. Haskel says he takes part in party house meetings and field activity [20]. Haskel said she rejects one of his positions, on Gaza, as party policy (see the Gaza section) [14].

Positions on the issues

How to read this section. Israel First has no published detailed platform. Its website carries a data page on the Haredi sector with four stated policy aims [1], and the party announced five principles at its launch [4]. Most of the evidence is therefore Haskel's own record and statements. Because Haskel has been an MK since 2015, there is also a record of her votes in the Knesset (official Knesset data, cited below). Those votes were cast as a Likud MK and then a New Hope MK; they are her record, not the record of Israel First, which is new. Votes cast while she was a coalition member in 2024 to 2026 may reflect coalition discipline as well as her own views.

Cost of living

  • Statement: In July 2026 Haskel said her economic philosophy is "less taxes, less regulation, less government involvement, less bureaucracy" [13]. In August 2026 she said "we have to cut down massively on the amount of bureaucracy and regulations that Israel has". She called for lower taxes and a smaller, more efficient state budget, with government money directed to Israelis who work, serve and pay taxes [14].
  • Statement: According to Israel Hayom's report on Danino's joining, he promotes practical solutions for removing regulation, cutting taxes and lowering the cost of living, and volunteers to help reservists and business owners who were harmed financially [12].
  • Formal commitment: The party's website says it will review and cancel allowances, grants and incentives that, in its view, discourage people from joining the labour market, and will present the full picture of sectoral budgets and transfers [1].
  • Background (2016, before the period this guide relies on): A January 2016 report says Haskel, then a Likud MK, had recently submitted a bill to remove the legal powers of the Honey Council and open the honey market to competition, and that the bill had passed the Ministerial Committee for Legislation. The report comes from a free-market advocacy outlet, which says honey imports face a 255% tariff [40]. Whether the bill became law was not verified.
  • Action: As a coalition MK, Haskel voted for the 2025 and 2026 state budgets (25 March 2025 (the Knesset record files the vote under the sitting of 24 March), and 30 March 2026) and for the Economic Efficiency laws for both budget years (24 December 2024 and 30 March 2026) in their final readings [53, 54, 55, 56].
  • Change over time: On 24 December 2024 Haskel voted for the Economic Efficiency Law for the 2025 budget year, whose official title says it freezes tax updates and sets a surtax ("הקפאת עדכוני מס ומס יסף") [55, 56]. She was then a coalition MK, and the law was part of the legislation passed to meet the 2025 budget targets [56]. Her stated position for lower taxes is documented from September 2025 onwards, after that vote [13, 14, 17].
  • The party has not said whether it supports price supervision, taxes on high profits, or larger welfare payments. Its stated approach is deregulation and lower taxes.

Closest option(s): Open the market to more competition and cut red tape (open-market-competition-imports), and cut taxes and government spending (cut-taxes-and-government-spending). The statements support both, though in December 2024, before these statements, she voted for a tax-freeze law. The evidence gives no support for state price regulation or expanded direct support.

Crime in Arab society

No documented position found specific to crime in Arab communities. Hebrew and English sources were searched for Haskel and Israel First on crime in Arab communities, the Shin Bet's role, police resources, and investment in Arab communities, as were the party's website, interviews with Haskel in 2025 and 2026, and the party's candidate announcements. None of them addresses this issue.

The related items are general, not specific to Arab communities:

  • Action: In December 2021 the Knesset passed, in its second and third readings, Haskel's bill setting minimum sentences for holding, carrying and dealing in illegal weapons, as a temporary provision. Except in special cases, the minimum is one quarter of the maximum sentence for anyone convicted of these offences. It passed with four MKs voting in favour and none against or abstaining [41].
  • Action: On 22 May 2024 Haskel voted in a preliminary reading for a bill on protecting the public from crime organizations. On 10 December 2025, in preliminary readings, she voted against an opposition bill to combat weapons smuggling, which was rejected by 52 votes to 26 with four MKs present but not voting, and for the Special Powers to Combat Crime Organizations (Temporary Provisions) bill, which passed by 54 votes to 41 [53, 54, 60, 61].

Haskel also says the next government should not depend on Arab parties (see the coalition section), but this is not a policy on crime [13, 20].

Gaza Strip policy

  • Statement (August 2026): Haskel said: "Without the destruction of Hamas, without the complete and full disarmament of Hamas, there is absolutely no step Israel can take in order to continue and advance to the second stage in Gaza." [14]
  • Statement (August 2026): She said Pollard's position, which is to remove Gaza's Palestinian residents, apply Israeli sovereignty over Gaza (described in the source as annexing it) and settle it with Israelis, "is not the stand of Israel First". She said she understood the argument that giving up territory had failed to resolve the conflict, and that different options for Gaza should be discussed [14].
  • Statement (February 2025): As deputy foreign minister she told Foreign Policy that Israel wants a long-term solution. This requires dismantling Hamas's military power and making sure Hamas does not hold "any civilian power". She said that Hamas's military capabilities could not be completely destroyed. Of President Trump's idea of temporary refuge for Gaza's residents while the United States rebuilt the area, she said it was "an outside of the box solution that we should seriously look into". She said that what others were proposing would reward Hamas's terrorism with Palestinian statehood [32].
  • Statement (6 October 2025): She said the 2005 disengagement from Gaza had been made under international pressure, with promises that "were just empty words". She said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is "not a territorial conflict" but "a religious cultural conflict" [33].
  • Statement (1 September 2025): She defended Netanyahu's handling of the Gaza war, saying he had been "making the right decisions" [17].
  • Haskel has not stated the party's view on an international security force, a new Palestinian administration, or a return to full-scale fighting.

Closest option(s): Stay in place and keep pressure on Hamas, with no further steps until it is fully disarmed (hold-positions-disarmament-first). The evidence is only partial. The party rejects the resettlement and sovereignty approach, which makes resume-fighting-full-control a poor fit, although in February 2025 Haskel said Trump's idea of temporary refuge for Gaza's residents should be seriously considered. She has not addressed foreign forces.

Haredi military enlistment

This is the party's central issue.

  • Action (14 July 2026): The Knesset passed 58 to 54 a coalition law that bars the arrest and prosecution of Haredi men who have not enlisted, and suspends ongoing criminal proceedings. The law's text ran until 30 November 2026; the Times of Israel reported the protection as lasting until late January 2027 [59, 8]. The IDF Chief of Staff called the proposal "inconceivable" [8]. The High Court of Justice froze the law the next day and struck it down on 3 September 2026 [57]. Haskel was one of four coalition MKs who voted against it, along with Yuli Edelstein, Dan Illouz and Moshe Solomon. She resigned as deputy foreign minister immediately afterwards [8, 9]. The Knesset's voting record confirms her vote against it in the final reading [46, 47].
  • Change over time: As a New Hope MK in the Bennett–Lapid coalition, Haskel voted for the government's enlistment bill at its first reading on 31 January 2022, which passed 51–48. On 11 June 2024, when New Hope was in the opposition, she voted against reviving the same bill, which the Knesset did by 63–57 [62]. The two votes were cast in different Knessets, the first as part of the coalition and the second in the opposition, with the October 7 attack and the war in between. No statement by Haskel explaining the difference between the two votes was found.
  • Action (June and July 2026): Haskel voted against "Basic Law: Torah Study" in its preliminary reading on 10 June 2026 and its first reading on 1 July 2026. No vote by her is recorded in its final reading on 13 July 2026 [46, 47].
  • Statement (November 2025): She said publicly that she would vote against the draft-law outline of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair, MK Boaz Bismuth, "whatever the political price". She said the bill entrenches a status of "first-class" citizens with privileges and "second-class" citizens who carry the burden alone [26].
  • Action (December 2025): She walked about 90 kilometres from Kfar Saba to Jerusalem over three days to protest the bill [27].
  • Statement (16 December 2025): She said the proposed law had no real sanctions and that its definition of who counts as Haredi was full of holes ("like Swiss cheese"). She said she had proposed a compromise that "preserves the world of Torah and gives the IDF the manpower it needs", including a trial period of six months of enlistment without sanctions, followed by "harsh sanctions" if it did not work [28].
  • Statement (June 2026): She criticised the proposed "Basic Law: Torah Study", saying she values Torah study but that it should not be compared with IDF soldiers' status. She said the country is funding non-enlistment with billions of shekels each year [30].
  • Formal commitment: The party's website promotes "equal service", meaning a framework in which service obligations are not set by membership of a community. It also calls for labour-market participation instead of benefit dependence [1].
  • The party's figures: The website says that Haredim are 14.3% of the population and carry 2.8% of the compulsory and reserve service load. It attributes its figures to the Israel Democracy Institute and the Central Bureau of Statistics [1]. These are the party's own figures and were not independently verified.
  • Statement (August 2026): Israel First would make two laws a condition for joining a government. The first would set up "border yeshivas" at 15-kilometre intervals along Israel's borders, where students stay within their Haredi frameworks while doing security tasks. The second would deny government benefits to people who did not serve, and limit the salary, in the first three years, of anyone who did not serve and enters a government or municipal post, to what a soldier completing three years of service receives. She did not say which benefits would be affected, whether civilian national service would count, or what exemptions would remain [14].
  • Statement (30 August 2026): Haskel said "a right that does not compromise on enlistment, and no other party says this" and "an enlistment law, period, on the right" [19]. In August 2026 she said: "We are a right-wing party that refuses to compromise on exemption bills" [14].
  • Ynet's interviewer put to Haskel the criticism that she objected only late in the term. She replied that she and six other coalition members had prevented the exemption law for a whole sector, and that the arrest-freeze law then came "through the back door" [18].

Closest option(s): Require every 18-year-old to serve in the army or civilian national service, with benefits tied to service (universal-service-with-sanctions). Haskel's own proposals also include a trial period without sanctions and border yeshivas for Haredi students, which partly resemble gradual-targets-by-agreement. She rules out a blanket exemption law (anchor-torah-study-exemption).

Housing

No documented position found. Hebrew and English sources were searched for Haskel, Israel First and Danino on housing prices, planning and building permits, the Israel Land Authority, rental regulation, and help for first-time buyers, as were the party's website and 2025 and 2026 interviews with Haskel. None of them states a housing policy.

The only related statements are general: Haskel wants to cut bureaucracy and regulation and lower taxes [13, 14]. She has not applied these to housing.

Iran, Hezbollah and the region

  • Formal commitment: The party's first stated principle is "strong security and victory without compromise" [4].
  • Statement (August 2026): Haskel told Al-Monitor that "the June 26 agreement between Israel and Lebanon offers the Lebanese people a one-time opportunity to liberate themselves from their Iranian patrons". She said Israel does not want to stay in Lebanon forever, and that the Lebanese army has a problem because people linked to Hezbollah (the Iran-backed terror organization in Lebanon) serve in its ranks. She was answering a question about the "pilot zone" project, under which the Lebanese army replaces Israeli troops in southern Lebanon [7].
  • Statement (August 2026): She said Israel and the United States "are both fighting radical Islamists and fanatical regimes". She added that Israel had been attacked for six months by Hezbollah and the Iranian military before it responded, and that "if Iran had attacked us, we would have responded" [7].
  • Statement (1 September 2025): She said joining the government had been the right decision because of its military achievements against Hezbollah and Iran [17].
  • Statement (5 August 2026): She said the discussions in New Hope about the coalition came down to three main points: an expected confrontation with Hezbollah, an expected confrontation with Iran, and a commitment to keep Netanyahu's coalition in place until the end of the term in exchange for a hostage deal [18].
  • Statement (16 December 2025): She said Israel is heading toward a multi-front confrontation, "more challenging than what we experienced", and that the IDF needs more fighters [28].
  • On Syria, she said Israel will "not rely on words, but watch their actions" [33].

Closest option(s): Keep up military pressure while negotiating, and use it to reach US-backed deals, with a pull-back only once there are security guarantees (force-plus-us-backed-agreements). The evidence is partial. Her principle of "victory without compromise" is also close to military-pressure-until-threats-removed, but she supports the US-backed Israel–Lebanon arrangement.

Judea and Samaria

  • Statement (5 August 2026): Haskel said: "Israel First is a right-wing party. ... Only a month ago I called for the cancellation of the Oslo Accords and I believe in sovereignty in Judea and Samaria." [18]
  • Statement (letter of 17 May 2026, reported on 2 June 2026): As deputy foreign minister she wrote to Prime Minister Netanyahu asking that Israel formally declare the Oslo Accords void. She said they restrict Israeli sovereignty and security control in Gaza and in Judea and Samaria. She accused the Palestinian Authority of incitement, illegal activity in Area C and financial support for attackers. She said cancellation should be done by legislation [34].
  • Background (4 November 2019, before the period this guide relies on): She submitted, for the third time, a bill to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea. She had advanced it since the 20th Knesset, and it was brought to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation several times [36, 37].
  • Action (23 July 2025): She voted for the motion to adopt the summary of a Knesset debate titled "Applying sovereignty in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley" [48, 49]. No vote by her is recorded on the bills to apply sovereignty that came to preliminary readings in this Knesset on 22 January 2025 (the Jordan Valley), 22 October 2025 (Judea and Samaria, and Ma'ale Adumim) and 31 December 2025 (Beitar Illit) [48, 49].
  • Statement (September 2021): She said that applying sovereignty in Judea and Samaria was the one option left to her, because no Palestinian leadership able to lead would emerge in the coming decades [35].
  • Statement (6 October 2025): She said the conflict "is not a territorial conflict" and cannot be resolved with territory [33]. In February 2025 she said Palestinian statehood proposals would reward Hamas's terror [32].
  • Statement (August 2026): She said any merger with other parties would have to be based on shared principles such as the centrality of Judea and Samaria (the source calls it the West Bank) in Israel's security doctrine [16].
  • Al-Monitor reports that Haskel continues to support Netanyahu's right-wing agenda, including support for the settlement enterprise [7].
  • She has not published how far she would apply sovereignty in 2026 (the whole area, Area C, or the Jordan Valley only). Her only specific bill, from 2019, covers the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea.

Closest option(s): Apply Israeli sovereignty over part of the area (partial-sovereignty-area-c) or over all of it (full-sovereignty). The evidence since 2021 is mixed: her 2021 and 2026 statements and her July 2025 vote support applying sovereignty in Judea and Samaria generally and cancelling the Oslo Accords, without saying how far, while her only specific bill, which predates 2021, covered the Jordan Valley. The evidence is firm that she opposes a Palestinian state.

Judicial system

Israel First has no stated position on this issue, and no statement by Haskel was found on the 2023 judicial changes or the dismissal of the attorney general. The evidence is her Knesset votes as a coalition MK, and one statement:

  • Action (27 March 2025): Haskel voted for the Courts Law (Amendment No. 105) in its final reading [45, 47]. The law changes the make-up of the Judicial Selection Committee, the body that picks judges, to one government minister, one coalition MK, one opposition MK, two lawyers (one appointed by the government and one by the opposition) and three Supreme Court justices. It was based on a compromise between Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Gideon Sa'ar [44].
  • Action (2025 to 2026): She voted for a bill to split the attorney general's role in its preliminary reading (29 October 2025), for the Attorney General and Chief Prosecutor bill in its first reading (2 June 2026), and for the Government Legal Adviser Law (Legal Opinions, Representation and Supervision) in its final reading (15 July 2026) [48, 49]. Under that law the government may decide that the attorney general's written legal opinions do not bind it, except in criminal matters, and may have another lawyer present its position in court. It takes effect on 1 January 2027 [50].
  • Statement (16 December 2025): On ministers who called for ignoring High Court rulings, she said: "That is not appropriate. Even if there is harsh criticism of the legal adviser, there is a High Court ruling and it must be respected. Do a proper process and avoid unnecessary politicization." [28]

Closest option(s): Keep the changes the government has passed (continue-judicial-changes). The evidence is her votes for the 2025 judicial-selection law and the 2026 legal-adviser law, cast as a coalition member. Israel First has not stated a position, and her December 2025 statement that court rulings must be respected does not settle how far she supports further changes.

October 7 inquiry

  • Statement (18 November 2025): Haskel proposed a compromise model of a five-member commission. It would be led by a chair appointed by the President of the State, who would be a former IDF comptroller, together with a former president or deputy president of the Supreme Court. Three members would be chosen by survivors and bereaved families, so that family-chosen members would be the majority. The commission would have a legal right to enter any facility, interview anyone including security-service personnel, and access any archive [31].
  • Statement (18 November 2025): On the models on offer she asked: "Which commission? One the government will appoint? One that at least half the people will not trust? Or a commission appointed by the Supreme Court president, whom half the country does not believe in after the controversial appointment?" She said public trust is the most important element [31].
  • Statement (16 December 2025): She said she supports establishing a state commission of inquiry, but it "must be acceptable to the majority of the public, otherwise its conclusions will not hold", and that "the people are torn" [28].
  • Action (in opposition, 2024): On 17 July 2024, while New Hope was in opposition, Haskel voted for two bills to set up a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 attack, in their preliminary readings [51, 52].
  • Action (in the coalition, 2025 to 2026): As a coalition MK she voted against a bill on mandatory grounds for a state commission of inquiry (19 March 2025), against three bills to set up a state commission into October 7 (12 November 2025) and against two more such bills (1 July 2026), all in preliminary readings [51, 52]. No vote by her is recorded on a bill for a "state-national" commission of inquiry that came to a preliminary reading on 24 December 2025 [46, 47].
  • Contradiction: On 17 July 2024, in opposition, Haskel voted for two bills to set up a state commission of inquiry, and in December 2025 she said she supports establishing one [51, 52, 28]. But in November 2025 and July 2026, as a coalition MK, she voted against bills to set one up [51, 52]. Her stated condition was that the commission be acceptable to most of the public, and she proposed her own model [28, 31].
  • No statement on the issue in the 2026 campaign was found.

Closest option(s): A neutral method that no political side controls picks the members (commission-chosen-by-neutral-mechanism). Her proposal gives appointment powers to the President of the State and bereaved families. It is also close to commission-appointed-by-knesset-balance, because it involves bereaved families and aims at broad agreement. She rejects the Supreme Court president picking the members, and a commission appointed by the government alone [31]. Her 2024 votes supported a state commission (state-commission-under-existing-law), but her 2025 and 2026 votes and statements do not.

Religion and state

  • Statement (31 August 2026): In Ynet's review of party positions on Shabbat public transport, Israel First opposed broad government funding or subsidy of Shabbat transport (including to Ben-Gurion Airport). It supported allowing private companies to run profitable lines, independence for local authorities, and targeted service on request to hospitals and army bases [38].
  • Action (19 November 2025): As a coalition MK, Haskel voted against two bills to run public transport on Shabbat, in their preliminary readings [53, 54].
  • Action (June and July 2026): She voted against "Basic Law: Torah Study" in its preliminary and first readings (see the enlistment section) [46, 47].
  • Statement (March 2021): On the Supreme Court ruling that recognised Reform and Conservative conversions for citizenship purposes, Haskel said the issue "needs to be decided definitely by the people's representatives". She called it "a tragedy" that it was dragged out for years, and said there should be "a very deep discussion" with "an open table" [39].
  • Formal commitment: The party's website says it will reduce sectoral mechanisms of collection, mediation and funding in the religion, education and welfare systems [1].
  • No documented position was found on civil marriage, the Chief Rabbinate's role in marriage and conversion, kosher certification, or school curricula, after searching Hebrew and English sources and the party's website.

Closest option(s): Keep the Rabbinate but allow more choice and local decisions (more-choice-local-decisions). The evidence is partial and mixed. The 2026 statement on Shabbat transport (local-authority autonomy and private operators) and her 2021 view on conversion fit this option, but her 2025 votes against Shabbat public transport bills are closer to keep-status-quo. Nothing covers marriage or kosher certification.

Other notable positions

Cannabis and individual liberty

  • Action: Haskel has made cannabis legalization a key personal agenda item. In 2020 she sponsored a bill to legalize cannabis, which advanced in the Knesset but did not pass before the Knesset dispersed [39]. On 5 March 2025 she voted in a preliminary reading for a bill to regulate the use of cannabis for medical purposes [53, 54].
  • Statement: In 2021 Haskel said New Hope had set out a plan to decriminalize cannabis use within 100 days of taking office and fully legalize it within a year [39].
  • Formal commitment: On 3 September 2026 Israel First and Green Leaf announced a joint run that would promote cannabis legalization, reform of the medical-cannabis system, and removal of barriers and bureaucracy for patients. They also promised to promote research and treatment of post-trauma and mental health, with a focus on fighters and civilians harmed in the war [10].
  • Statement: Yoftaro said in August 2026 that Green Leaf would require full legalization, a comprehensive medical-cannabis reform and psychedelic-based treatment for people with post-trauma as conditions for any coalition [11].
  • Haskel presents the cause as a matter of individual liberty and of stopping the criminalization of cannabis users [39]. She said the link with Green Leaf should focus on treatment for post-trauma and not only on cannabis [20].

Reservists, veterans and war-injured

  • Statement: The party presents itself as a voice for people who serve. Danino volunteers to help reservists and business owners who were harmed financially [12], and the party said he would focus on helping reservists and small businesses [14]. The list includes Amit Adi Peder, whose father was killed near Gaza in 2019, and Tomer Brok, a reserve battalion commander who fought on October 7 and was wounded in Jenin [1].
  • Statement: Haskel describes what she is building as "a movement that stands up for those who do serve the country, that has their backs" [7].
  • Formal commitment: The party promises to promote research and treatment of post-trauma and mental health, with a focus on fighters [10].

Free economy and regulation

  • Statement: Haskel calls for "a smaller, more efficient state budget" and for directing public spending to those who work, serve and pay taxes [14]. Haskel says Pollard, who has joined the party but is not on its list, supports free-market reforms [14].
  • Statement (1 September 2025): She said the government needs "to reduce taxes, reduce regulation, and to give us a breath of air" [17].
  • Formal commitment: The party's website lists a plan to reduce sectoral mechanisms in religion, education and welfare funding, and to present the full picture of budgets and transfers to sectors [1].
  • Action: The Haskel-initiated bill to open the honey market, and her votes on budgets and tax laws, are described in the cost-of-living section [40, 53, 55].

Education

  • Formal commitment: "Education for excellence" is one of the party's five principles [4].
  • Statement: Haskel said that Pollard is "really passionate about education" and that she and he have repeatedly discussed reforms that could be introduced quickly [14]. No further detail on the party's education policy was found.
  • The party's website says that only 16% of Haredi school graduates are eligible for a matriculation certificate, and that 40% of Haredi boys attend schools that are exempt from the full core curriculum (mathematics, English, science) while receiving partial public funding. It attributes these figures to the Israel Democracy Institute and the Ministry of Education, and does not set out a specific reform [1]. These are the party's own figures and were not independently verified.

Civil liberties, LGBT rights, women, animals and the environment

  • Statement: Jewish Insider describes Haskel as a vegan, an environmentalist, and a supporter of women's advancement and LGBT rights [39]. Al-Monitor describes her as a longtime environmental and animal-rights activist [7].
  • Background (2016–2018): According to Jewish Insider, about a year after she became co-chair of the Knesset's LGBT caucus, she voted with her party against a series of bills to expand LGBT rights. Two years later she broke ranks to vote in favour of expanding surrogacy rights to gay couples, and resigned as caucus chair in protest that Likud did not pass the legislation [39].
  • Action: On 20 June 2022 the Knesset Education Committee, which she chaired, approved draft regulations that ban keeping egg-laying hens in cages from 2037, ban building new cage coops, and ban forced moulting and beak trimming [42].
  • Statement (2021): She said that "equality in front of the law is a basic value in the right-wing agenda" [39].

Foreign policy, diplomacy and antisemitism

  • Action: As deputy foreign minister she was put in charge of a public-diplomacy budget of over NIS 545 million. She says the money went to delegations from abroad, research and digital tools to monitor international media, and that much of the success was in "taking down fake reports and lies about Israel" [16].
  • Statement (February 2025): She said Israel's "fight against UNRWA is part of the fight on the civilian power held by Hamas". She dismissed UN investigations into the agency's alleged Hamas ties as a "joke", and said UNRWA is "part of the problem" [32]. (UNRWA is the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.)
  • Statement (6 October 2025): After the 1 October 2025 attack on a synagogue in Manchester, she said antisemitism is "out of control" in the United Kingdom, and she warned about antisemitism spreading in Canada. In the case of Canada, she linked part of the problem to immigration from the Middle East, saying that ideas that demonize Jews and Israel arrive with it [33].
  • Statement (August 2026): On the Israeli-US relationship she said "we know that America is our ally" and that she backs Netanyahu "completely" apart from "disagreements on certain issues" [7].

Dependence on sectoral parties and budgets

  • Statement: In September 2025 Haskel said the next government must not be "reliant on the extremists". She said the Haredi parties need to be part of the government but cannot extort it [17]. In August 2026 she said she wants a broad Zionist government "free from political extortion". She said a right-wing government is held hostage by the Haredi parties, and a left-wing government would be held hostage by the Arab parties [7]. In January 2026 she said that Haredi political figures were pressing the prime minister and threatening to bring down the government if the enlistment law passed [29].
  • Statement (10 June 2026): She objected that a coalition bill (the Torah Study basic law) would pass with the votes of Arab parties [30].
  • The party's figures: The party's website says that about 15% of the Knesset is held by Haredi parties and that yeshiva funding rises and falls with their coalition membership. It also says that a Haredi household receives about NIS 4,000 more per month net from the state than it pays, and attributes its budget figures to Israel Democracy Institute and Kohelet Forum research. The party presents this as the basis for its calls for budget transparency [1]. These are the party's own figures and were not independently verified.
  • Statement (30 August 2026): She said a government that depends on Haredi parties "is not a real right-wing government" [19].

Coalition stance

Stated positions, by date.

  • 1 September 2025: Haskel said that a unity government could include Bennett, Eisenkot, Smotrich and other representatives of the centre and right, but would exclude Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit and Yair Golan's The Democrats. She said the next government must not be "reliant on the extremists" [17].
  • 29 July 2026: She said she would be willing to sit in a government with Netanyahu ("If he's prime minister, he will be chosen to be a prime minister") and wants the Netanyahu bloc and Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party to sit together. She ruled out relying on Haredi or Arab parties. She ruled out Yair Golan as a partner, saying his past remarks made him not a viable Zionist partner [13].
  • 29 July 2026 (same interview): She said she wants "a bloc of six mandates" that would stop Netanyahu from building a coalition with the Haredi parties and stop Eisenkot from building one with the Arab parties. She said it was most likely that Netanyahu would get most of the seats [13].
  • 5 August 2026: "I don't boycott Netanyahu. I'm still sitting in a coalition under him." She also said: "I have no problem being in a Netanyahu coalition. The question is what the framework and the red lines are." She wants a blocking bloc that prevents a narrow government with Haredi parties. She said that talk of boycotts should stay out [18].
  • 11 August 2026: Al-Monitor published an interview in which she said she is building "a right-wing movement that doesn't boycott anyone except anti-Zionists" [7].
  • August 2026 (The Media Line): Haskel said her party does not "run for the prime ministership". She rejected a blanket boycott of Ben-Gvir or Smotrich ("There are certain things I agree with and certain things I disagree with"), and said some of their wartime statements had harmed Israel's international position. She drew a sharper line against Golan, Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, and said she would not rely on Golan in a future government. She named two laws as conditions for joining a government: border yeshivas and benefits conditioned on service (see the enlistment section) [14].
  • 6 September 2026: She said her aim is to prevent either bloc from forming a government without her and to force a national Zionist government dealing with security, the economy, enlistment and education, without relying on Haredi or Arab parties [20].
  • 17 September 2026: The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel First calls for a broad Zionist government that does not depend on the Haredi or Arab parties [15].

Change over time: In September 2025 Haskel said a future unity government would exclude Otzma Yehudit [17]. In August 2026 she said she would not boycott anyone except anti-Zionists and would not boycott Ben-Gvir or Smotrich as a blanket policy [7, 14, 15]. She has not said whether this reflects a change of position.

Change over time: From June 2021 to 2022 Haskel was a New Hope MK in the Bennett–Lapid coalition, which included the Arab party Ra'am [65]. In 2026 she rules out a government that relies on Arab parties [13, 20]. No statement by Haskel explaining the difference was found.

Track record on coalition pledges.

  • Change over time: In August 2024 Haskel said Netanyahu's government was "one of the worst governments that we could have had in such a difficult, challenging time" [17]. In September 2024 her party, New Hope, rejoined that government, and she was appointed deputy foreign minister later in 2024 [7, 17]. In August 2026 she said that after October 7 New Hope, then with Benny Gantz, had joined a broad coalition, and that the later discussions came down to the expected confrontations with Hezbollah and Iran and a commitment to keep Netanyahu's coalition until the end of the term in exchange for a hostage deal [18].
  • She says that when New Hope entered the coalition she told Sa'ar she would not return to Likud with them, and that the agreements provided for Sa'ar's return to Likud with three party-funding units rather than four because it was clear she would not join. She did not rejoin Likud [18, 17].
  • She left the government on 14 July 2026, shortly before the Knesset dissolved, after saying she had drawn a "red line" on enlistment exemptions [8, 17].
  • Israel First has not faced an election, so it has no record of keeping pledges as a party.

Track record

Israel First has never been in the Knesset or in government. The record below is Haskel's personal record, as a Likud MK (2015 to 2020), a New Hope MK (2021 to 2026) and deputy foreign minister (2024 to 2026) [7, 17].

  • Haredi enlistment. Haskel opposed the Bismuth draft-law outline from November 2025, walked to Jerusalem in protest in December 2025, voted against "Basic Law: Torah Study" in two readings, and voted against the arrest-freeze law in July 2026. The Knesset passed that law 58 to 54 despite her vote [8, 26, 27, 46]. She said she and six other coalition members had stopped the broader exemption law [18].
  • Legislation passed. The minimum-sentence law for illegal-weapons offences passed in December 2021 [41]. Regulations banning cages for egg-laying hens were approved in June 2022 by the Education Committee, which she chaired [42].
  • Legislation that did not pass or whose outcome was not verified. Her 2020 cannabis legalization bill advanced but did not pass before the Knesset dispersed [39]. Her Jordan Valley sovereignty bill was brought to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation several times; no evidence was found that it passed [37]. The honey-market bill passed the ministerial committee in 2016; its further stages were not verified [40].
  • Votes as a coalition MK (2021 to 2022). As a New Hope MK in the Bennett–Lapid coalition, Haskel voted with the coalition against opposition private bills at their preliminary readings: a bill to increase the public-housing stock (24 November 2021, defeated 40–44), a bill to raise child allowances (24 November 2021, defeated 38–43), and a bill setting minimum sentences for weapons offences (11 May 2022, defeated 53–61) [63]. Her own bill on minimum sentences for illegal-weapons offences had become law in December 2021 [41]; the record does not give reasons for votes, and no statement by her on the May 2022 vote was found. The plans New Hope published for the March 2021 election, on whose list she ran, hold no pledge to enlarge the public-housing stock, raise child allowances or set minimum sentences for weapons offences [64], so these are recorded as votes with the coalition and not as contradictions.
  • Votes as a coalition MK (2024 to 2026). She voted for the 2025 and 2026 budgets and Economic Efficiency laws [53, 55], for the 2025 judicial-selection law and the 2026 legal-adviser law [45, 48], and against several state commission of inquiry bills (see the October 7 inquiry section) [51].
  • Promise versus outcome on cannabis. In 2021 Haskel said New Hope planned decriminalization within 100 days and legalization within a year [39]. In August 2026 Yoftaro said Arab and Haredi parties had blocked legalization and reform for years [11].
  • Deputy foreign minister. Haskel was put in charge of over NIS 545 million for improving Israel's public image abroad. She said the money went to delegations from abroad, research and digital monitoring of international media, and that much of the success was in removing false reports [16].
  • Resignation and exit. She resigned from the government and left New Hope in July 2026, after its merger agreement with Likud and the arrest-freeze vote [7, 8]. Her petition to be recognized as a separate faction was dismissed in August 2026 [24, 25].

Legal or ethical matters involving leaders

No indictments, convictions or official inquiries against Sharren Haskel or the other top candidates were found. Hebrew and English news searches covered Haskel, Danino, Yoftaro, Mugrabi and the other listed candidates. Results for the common surname Danino related to other people and are not attributed to the candidate. Haskel is involved in the following matters as a petitioner and a witness, not as a suspect.

State Comptroller vote: conflicting affidavits (Haskel gave testimony as a witness; no report names her as a suspect).

  • On 3 June 2026 the Knesset voted for State Comptroller. Michael Rabello, a lawyer for Prime Minister Netanyahu, won the second round 61 to 57, after some MKs recorded their votes [23]. The High Court of Justice annulled the election, finding a substantive flaw in the process after several MKs filmed themselves voting in what is by law a secret ballot, and ordered a new vote [22].
  • In July 2026, in her petition for recognition as a one-member faction, Haskel filed an affidavit to the High Court saying that New Hope MKs were required to film their votes and show them to the prime minister [22, 25]. Affidavits filed for Likud stated that no such instruction was given [21, 23]. Foreign Minister Sa'ar also filed an affidavit saying that Likud had made no demand of New Hope MKs [18].
  • Because the affidavits conflict, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara reportedly instructed police on 29 July 2026 to examine them [23]. Ynet reported on 30 July 2026 that the attorney general and the State Attorney, Amit Aisman, had ordered police to check which side, Likud or Haskel, had filed a false affidavit, and that Haskel was summoned to give "open testimony" so that police could establish what the instruction was and who gave it. Depending on her account, a decision could be made to open a criminal investigation [22].
  • On 2 August 2026 Haskel gave open testimony for about an hour and a half at the police's Lahav 433 major-crimes unit [21]. Reports say investigators sought to establish whether the instruction to film came from within New Hope or from Likud figures [25]. On 25 August 2026 the Times of Israel reported that the conflicting testimonies had led to a criminal investigation into possible perjury, and that Haskel declined to comment because police had told her not to discuss it publicly [16].
  • Status as of 12 October 2026: the police investigation of the conflicting affidavits is the latest reported step. No report was found of a suspect being named, an indictment, a decision to close the matter, or a new vote. Haskel says she stands behind her affidavit and cannot discuss her testimony [18].

Court ruling on Haskel's petition. On 9 August 2026 the High Court of Justice (President Yitzhak Amit and Justices Daphna Barak-Erez and Alex Stein) unanimously dismissed her petition to split from her faction, mainly because she had waited too long to act. It said the comptroller-vote claims were not relevant to deciding the petition, and it did not order her to pay costs [24, 25].

Sources

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  45. KNS_PlenumVoteResult: New Hope MKs' votes, including Haskel's (MkId 30118), on vote 43874 (Courts Law, Amendment No. 105, third reading, 27 March 2025). Knesset open data (OData), retrieved 7 October 2026. https://knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_PlenumVoteResult?$filter=VoteID%20eq%2043874%20and%20(MkId%20eq%201027%20or%20MkId%20eq%204397%20or%20MkId%20eq%2030118%20or%20MkId%20eq%2030799)
  46. KNS_PlenumVoteResult: New Hope MKs' votes, including Haskel's (MkId 30118), on votes 44946, 46121, 46181, 46248, 46622, 46670. Knesset open data (OData), retrieved 7 October 2026. https://knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_PlenumVoteResult?$filter=(VoteID%20eq%2044946%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2046670%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2046622%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2046121%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2046181%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2046248)%20and%20(MkId%20eq%201027%20or%20MkId%20eq%204397%20or%20MkId%20eq%2030118%20or%20MkId%20eq%2030799%20or%20MkId%20eq%2022151)
  47. KNS_PlenumVote: titles, dates and stages of votes 43874, 44946, 46121, 46181, 46248, 46622, 46670. Knesset open data (OData), retrieved 7 October 2026. https://knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_PlenumVote?$filter=Id%20eq%2044946%20or%20Id%20eq%2046670%20or%20Id%20eq%2046622%20or%20Id%20eq%2046121%20or%20Id%20eq%2046181%20or%20Id%20eq%2046248%20or%20Id%20eq%2043874&$select=Id,VoteDateTime,VoteTitle,VoteSubject,ForOptionDesc,VoteStatusDesc
  48. KNS_PlenumVoteResult: New Hope MKs' votes, including Haskel's (MkId 30118), on votes 42820, 44413, 44575, 44580, 44612, 44992, 46009, 46462. Knesset open data (OData), retrieved 7 October 2026. https://knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_PlenumVoteResult?$filter=(VoteID%20eq%2044580%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2044575%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2044413%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2042820%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2044992%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2044612%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2046009%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2046462)%20and%20(MkId%20eq%201027%20or%20MkId%20eq%204397%20or%20MkId%20eq%2030118%20or%20MkId%20eq%2030799%20or%20MkId%20eq%2022151)
  49. KNS_PlenumVote: titles, dates and stages of votes 42820, 44413, 44575, 44580, 44612, 44992, 46009, 46462. Knesset open data (OData), retrieved 7 October 2026. https://knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_PlenumVote?$filter=Id%20eq%2044580%20or%20Id%20eq%2044575%20or%20Id%20eq%2044413%20or%20Id%20eq%2042820%20or%20Id%20eq%2044992%20or%20Id%20eq%2044612%20or%20Id%20eq%2046009%20or%20Id%20eq%2046462&$select=Id,VoteDateTime,VoteTitle,VoteSubject,ForOptionDesc
  50. KNS_Bill: Government Legal Adviser Law (Legal Opinions, Representation and Supervision), 2026, with official summary. Knesset open data (OData), retrieved 7 October 2026. https://knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_Bill?$filter=KnessetNum%20eq%2025%20and%20contains(Name,'חוות%20דעת,%20ייצוג%20ופיקוח')&$select=Id,Name,SubTypeDesc,PublicationDate,SummaryLaw
  51. KNS_PlenumVoteResult: New Hope MKs' votes, including Haskel's (MkId 30118), on state commission of inquiry bills (votes 41283, 41284, 43382, 44660, 44661, 44669, 46366, 46367, 46368). Knesset open data (OData), retrieved 7 October 2026. https://knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_PlenumVoteResult?$filter=(VoteID%20eq%2041283%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2041284%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2043382%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2044660%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2044661%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2044669%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2046366%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2046367%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2046368)%20and%20(MkId%20eq%201027%20or%20MkId%20eq%204397%20or%20MkId%20eq%2030118%20or%20MkId%20eq%2030799%20or%20MkId%20eq%2022151)
  52. KNS_PlenumVote: titles, dates and stages of votes 41283, 41284, 43382, 44660, 44661, 44669, 46366, 46367, 46368. Knesset open data (OData), retrieved 7 October 2026. https://knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_PlenumVote?$filter=Id%20eq%2041283%20or%20Id%20eq%2041284%20or%20Id%20eq%2043382%20or%20Id%20eq%2044660%20or%20Id%20eq%2044661%20or%20Id%20eq%2044669%20or%20Id%20eq%2046366%20or%20Id%20eq%2046367%20or%20Id%20eq%2046368&$select=Id,VoteDateTime,VoteTitle,VoteSubject,ForOptionDesc
  53. KNS_PlenumVoteResult: New Hope MKs' votes, including Haskel's (MkId 30118), on votes 40980, 42355, 43241, 43638, 44629, 44753, 44754, 44853, 44855, 45441, 45675, 46193. Knesset open data (OData), retrieved 7 October 2026. https://knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_PlenumVoteResult?$filter=(VoteID%20eq%2043638%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2045675%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2044754%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2044753%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2044629%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2045441%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2044853%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2044855%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2046193%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2042355%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2043241%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2040980)%20and%20(MkId%20eq%201027%20or%20MkId%20eq%204397%20or%20MkId%20eq%2030118%20or%20MkId%20eq%2030799%20or%20MkId%20eq%2022151)
  54. KNS_PlenumVote: titles, dates and stages of votes 40980, 42355, 43241, 43638, 44629, 44753, 44754, 44853, 44855, 45441, 45675, 46193. Knesset open data (OData), retrieved 7 October 2026. https://knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_PlenumVote?$filter=Id%20eq%2043638%20or%20Id%20eq%2045675%20or%20Id%20eq%2044754%20or%20Id%20eq%2044753%20or%20Id%20eq%2044629%20or%20Id%20eq%2045441%20or%20Id%20eq%2044853%20or%20Id%20eq%2044855%20or%20Id%20eq%2046193%20or%20Id%20eq%2042355%20or%20Id%20eq%2043241%20or%20Id%20eq%2040980&$select=Id,VoteDateTime,VoteTitle,VoteSubject,ForOptionDesc
  55. KNS_PlenumVoteResult: New Hope MKs' votes, including Haskel's (MkId 30118), on votes 42577, 42791, 45728, 45845. Knesset open data (OData), retrieved 7 October 2026. https://knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_PlenumVoteResult?$filter=(VoteID%20eq%2042577%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2042791%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2045728%20or%20VoteID%20eq%2045845)%20and%20(MkId%20eq%201027%20or%20MkId%20eq%204397%20or%20MkId%20eq%2030118%20or%20MkId%20eq%2030799%20or%20MkId%20eq%2022151)
  56. KNS_PlenumVote: titles, dates and stages of votes 42577, 42791, 45728, 45845. Knesset open data (OData), retrieved 7 October 2026. https://knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_PlenumVote?$filter=Id%20eq%2042577%20or%20Id%20eq%2042791%20or%20Id%20eq%2045728%20or%20Id%20eq%2045845&$select=Id,VoteDateTime,VoteTitle,ForOptionDesc
  57. High Court strikes down law shielding haredi yeshiva students from arrest over draft evasion. The Jerusalem Post, 3 September 2026. https://jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-907553
  58. Knesset vote-details service (official per-MK records), votes 46670, 46121, 46181, 46248, 43874, 46462, 41283, 44660, 46366, 45675 and 42577 among those re-checked. The Knesset, retrieved 12 October 2026. https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/46670 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/46121 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/46181 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/46248 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/43874 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/46462 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/41283 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/44660 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/46366 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/45675 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/42577
  59. KNS_Bill 2168881, Security Service Law (Amendment No. 28 – Temporary Provision), 2026, with official summary. Knesset open data (OData), accessed 12 October 2026. https://www.knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_Bill(2168881)
  60. Plenum vote 44853: Bill to Combat Weapons Smuggling (Legislative Amendments), 2025, preliminary reading (rejected; 26 for, 52 against, 4 present not voting) (per-MK results). Knesset vote-details service (official record), 10 December 2025 (accessed 12 October 2026). https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/44853
  61. Plenum vote 44855: Special Powers to Combat Crime Organizations (Temporary Provisions) Bill, preliminary reading (54 for, 41 against) (per-MK results). Knesset vote-details service (official record), 10 December 2025 (accessed 12 October 2026). https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/44855
  62. Knesset plenum votes 36635 (Security Service Law bill, integration of yeshiva students, first reading, 31 January 2022) and 41074 (motion to apply continuity to the same bill, 11 June 2024): official per-MK records. Knesset vote-details service, accessed 12 October 2026. https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/36635 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/41074
  63. Knesset plenum votes 36094 (Public Housing (Increasing the Stock) Bill, 24 November 2021), 36100 (National Insurance (Raising Child Allowances) Bill, 24 November 2021) and 37100 (Penal Law (Minimum Sentences for Weapons Offences) Bill, 11 May 2022), all preliminary readings: official per-MK records. Knesset vote-details service, accessed 12 October 2026. https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/36094 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/36100 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/37100
  64. New Hope's plans for the March 2021 election: "תקווה לאנשים עם מוגבלות", "New Hope's Plan for Housing", "תקווה להורדת יוקר המחיה", the five-point economic plan and the list of plans (archived copies of the party website, Internet Archive, March 2021). New Hope, accessed 12 October 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20210314090116/https://www.newhope.org.il/disabled-people/ ; https://web.archive.org/web/20210317210430/https://www.newhope.org.il/en/new-hopes-plan-for-housing/ ; https://web.archive.org/web/20210317224953/https://www.newhope.org.il/cost-of-living/ ; https://web.archive.org/web/20210317221236/https://www.newhope.org.il/economy-plane/ ; https://web.archive.org/web/20210317204711/https://www.newhope.org.il/en/plans-2/
  65. Lapid finalizes coalition deals with all parties in incoming 'change government'. The Times of Israel, 11 June 2021. https://www.timesofisrael.com/lapid-inks-formal-coalition-deals-with-raam-yisrael-beytenu/

Information availability

Israel First was founded on 15 July 2026 and has not published a platform covering most of the ten issues in this guide. Its website contains a data page on the Haredi sector with four policy aims and a list of candidate biographies, and the party announced five principles at its launch [1, 4]. Positions therefore rest mainly on Haskel's statements, her bills and her recorded votes over 11 years in the Knesset, and she has been widely covered in Hebrew and English media.

  • Well documented: Haredi enlistment (votes, a protest march, party proposals), coalition stance, and cannabis and civil liberties.
  • Partly documented: Gaza, Iran and regional security, Judea and Samaria, the judicial system, the October 7 inquiry, religion and state, and cost of living. For these there are statements and, for several, Knesset votes, but no party policy statement.
  • No documented position found: housing, and crime in Arab society specifically.
  • Knesset votes: Haskel's votes cited here were re-checked on 12 October 2026 against the Knesset's official per-MK vote records and match [58]. Her votes cast as a coalition member may reflect coalition discipline.
  • Not verified: The party-website statistics (Haredi population share, service load, subsidies, education figures) are the party's own figures and were not independently verified. Several of Haskel's earlier bills (2016 honey bill, 2019 Jordan Valley bill) were found only in news reports on their submission.