Just 250 Votes Will Put A Pure Libertarian In Israel’s Parliament
Yes, NON-Israeli Jews CAN Vote
All pledges will be used to fund a 250-person membership drive to an international Jewish libertarian movement. See below.
I am Rafi Farber, I’m a libertarian, and I’m running for Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. Read all about me here. You may remember me from my 2012 LewRockwell article Vote Ron Paul and Let My People Go!
Believe it or not, I only need about 250 votes in order to win a seat in Knesset, and yes, any Jew in the world CAN vote for me by becoming a member of the international wing of the Zehut Party, Israel's leading libertarian party.
You can become a voting member by pledging at least $130, even, and especially if you are NOT an Israeli citizen or resident.
Here's how, and exactly why I only need 250 votes.
The Zehut (זהות) party is a new minarchist libertarian party, meaning "Identity" in Hebrew. It is a minimum government party where the State is limited to army, police, and courts. It is currently polling at 12-15 seats for the next Israeli general elections.
The key is, who the people are that will occupy these 12-15 seats in Knesset will be determined in Zehut Party primaries on September 12, before general Israeli elections, which can happen at any time. Most of these slots will be determined by Israeli citizen members of the Zehut Party. But one slot – slot #10 – will be determined by Zehut International members only. Zehut International members need not be Israeli citizens, or even live in Israel.
There are currently less than 250 Zehut International members in the world who will determine who wins slot #10 on the Zehut Party Knesset list. I have been a member of this movement in its various incarnations for nearly 10 years and I do have a good level of support in the party domestically. However, my opponent, someone akin to a conservative Republican in American terms, is a skilled politician and well-known in the diaspora Jewish world.
That's why to assure victory I need the votes of 250 Jewish libertarians internationally. While anyone in the world can join Zehut International and anyone can certainly support this project with donations, only those who identify as Jews on an honors system basis can vote. (Click here for the loose definition of "Jewish" for the purposes of this campaign.")
My goal is to sign up 250 Jewish libertarians all at once to Zehut International in order to ensure that I win this slot over my opponent who is not a principled libertarian. All money raised after fees will be sent to Zehut International to pay for membership along with your name, birthday, physical address, and email. I will follow up with all pledges who wish to vote in order to collect all needed information, and provide instruction as primary day (September 12) approaches.
If I win slot #10 and Zehut wins at least 10 seats in the next elections (a very strong possibility) a pure libertarian will win a seat in the Knesset for the first time in history.
My libertarian platform as it applies to Israel is very simple. Read it all here. Here's the short version:
1) I will not accept a single shekel from the State of Israel in salary or direct benefits. I will defend the liberty of all human beings in Israel for free. Half of any salary I receive as a Knesset member will go to the Mises Institute, and the other half to the Zehut Movement.
2. As a Knesset Member I will vote against any law that increases the power of the State of Israel over its citizens or those under its occupation. That means I will vote against any net tax or spending increase of any kind without exception.
3. I will vote for any law that decreases that power, meaning I will vote for any tax or spending cut without exception.
My seven specific legislative goals as a Knesset member are as follows:
1) To end all foreign government aid to Israel so that foreign taxpayers like you are no longer involved in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict against your will.
2) To legalize gold, silver, and bitcoin as legal tender in payment of Israeli taxes. This will eliminate inflation as it will strip the Bank of Israel of its monopoly over the money supply.
3. To end all Israeli military occupation of any territory currently under the control of the State of Israel, and leave all Jewish and Arab settlements alone. No civilian transfers of any kind, Jew or Arab, but pull the army out.
4. To end the 3-year mandatory draft into the Israel Defense Forces so no one is forced into the IDF against their will, whether they are a conscientious objector from the Left, an ultra Orthodox Haredi from the Right, a Druze or Arab who doesn't want to enlist, or just a guy that really doesn’t feel like being a slave for 3 years in the IDF and would rather do something else with his time on Earth.
5. To ensure that every person has the explicit right to bear arms privately and defend his family as he sees fit.
6. To end the State monopoly over all utilities, especially the dwindling water supply, and to legalize private collection of rainwater and the private production of electricity.
7. To separate Synagogue and State absolutely by eliminating the Chief Rabbinate entirely so that no tax-funded Rabbi can reach into any of our pockets against our will ever again, or tell us who we can or cannot marry or divorce, or what we can and cannot eat, or what is kosher and what is not. We can all decide these things for ourselves without being patronized and humiliated.
Do I expect to accomplish these specific legislative goals? With luck and God’s help, perhaps the first and fourth, but the rest no. Like Ron Paul, my expectations are extremely low in terms of practical legislation. But I do expect to be an uncompromising voice for true liberty, and galvanize the Austro-libertarian movement in Israel into something that, eventually, can shrink the Israeli State down to minarchist size (police, army, and courts) for starters.
So if you want me to be the voice for Austro-libertarianism in Israel's knesset, pledge $130 now to become a Zehut International member and vote for Rafi Farber on September 12th.
Those who would rather pledge bitcoin may do so to the following wallet. Just be sure to send me a note with name, physical address, and phone number to [email protected]: 3DYpFgirGrBjAbpumf9hbG1L1QK749q9pA
