Who are we?
On Tuesday, February 27, 2024, elections will be held for the Tel Aviv-Jaffa mayor and municipal council. We’ve joined together to make sure that our city remains a liberal, secular stronghold of democracy, diversity and inclusion.
In the upcoming elections, voters will be asked to cast two separate ballots: a yellow slip for mayor and a white slip for municipal council members. Our ballot will be marked with the Hebrew letters mem-resh-tzadi. The ballot will look like this: מרצ
Who are we?
We are activists from Brothers and Sisters in Arms; Bonot Alternativa and the Women’s Protest; High-Tech; Students; the Pink Front (Hahazit Havruda); Meretz Tel Aviv-Jaffa; and Green in the Center (Hayarok Bamerkaz).
All of us know the critical importance of having good people in politics. Our list is not composed of professional politicians and wheeler-dealers. Our list draws from the best and the brightest activists, protest leaders and founders of civil organizations to aid those affected by the Gaza war. Our list is made up entirely of GOOD PEOPLE.
Why are we running?
The upcoming elections will determine the future of Tel Aviv for the next five years. We cannot allow ourselves to make it easy for the government of destruction to continue robbing the coffers during the war and beyond. Representatives of this failed government are running in Tel Aviv and we must do everything possible to protect our city from them.
We cannot allow ourselves to abandon the centers of power – not nationally, and certainly not locally. This is our best – and for the time being, only – chance to repel the racist, homophobic, messianic, misogynistic forces that are striving to impose their dark ideologies upon us.
Why vote for us?
The upcoming local elections will play a major role in saving Israeli democracy – where Tel Aviv goes, the rest of the nation will follow. Tel Aviv-Jaffa must have a strong representation of new forces, liberal, professional, and values-driven – the same people who stepped up on October 8 to turn total chaos into competently caring for the needs of Israeli society.
With your help, we’ll be a strong force on the municipal council, promoting a liberal worldview that will influence municipal policy – public transportation on Shabbat, educating for democracy, gender equality, sustainability and climate-change action, LGBTQ rights, affordable housing and more.
Our platform – It’s not just a platform, it’s our working plan
A free city
A fundamental principle of the democratic worldview is the right of every person to freedom of religion and freedom from religion. The place to guarantee these rights is the state, the city and the community. As a free and liberal city, Tel Aviv-Jaffa is the home of all its residents; thus, it is responsible for safeguarding the rights of each individual – Jews and non-Jews, secular people, the religious and the non-religious, and all streams of Judaism (Reform, Conservative and Orthodox).
- The municipality will pledge to hold cultural, entertainment and leisure activities every Shabbat in all parts of the city, taking into consideration the varying character of each neighborhood
- The municipality will pledge to maintain a public transportation network in the city, in a manner befitting Shabbat (continuing the highly successful Moving on the Weekend free bus system initiated by Deputy Mayor Meital Lehavi, the head of our list). This will enable all residents to get around the city freely, even without a private vehicle
- The city will ensure the choice of pluralistic and diverse representation on the municipal religious council, which will include women, men and representatives of all streams of Judaism, including secular Jewish renewal. Our goal is to form a religious council, at least half of whose members are women, that reflects the entire spectrum of Jewish belief
A free city
A fundamental principle of the democratic worldview is the right of every person to freedom of religion and freedom from religion. The place to guarantee these rights is the state, the city and the community. As a free and liberal city, Tel Aviv-Jaffa is the home of all its residents; thus, it is responsible for safeguarding the rights of each individual – Jews and non-Jews, secular people, the religious and the non-religious, and all streams of Judaism (Reform, Conservative and Orthodox).
- The municipality will pledge to hold cultural, entertainment and leisure activities every Shabbat in all parts of the city, taking into consideration the varying character of each neighborhood
- The municipality will pledge to maintain a public transportation network in the city, in a manner befitting Shabbat (continuing the highly successful Moving on the Weekend free bus system initiated by Deputy Mayor Meital Lehavi, the head of our list). This will enable all residents to get around the city freely, even without a private vehicle
- The city will ensure the choice of pluralistic and diverse representation on the municipal religious council, which will include women, men and representatives of all streams of Judaism, including secular Jewish renewal. Our goal is to form a religious council, at least half of whose members are women, that reflects the entire spectrum of Jewish belief
The environment
Climate change is the most critical crisis facing humanity now and into the foreseeable future. What we do now is crucial – simply put, our actions today will determine how tomorrow will look. Precisely because of this, how Tel Aviv-Jaffa handles sustainability and environmental issues is of the utmost importance. Not just for those who live here, but also as Israel’s leading city that serves as an example to many other localities that follow in its footsteps.
- We will promote the installation of solar energy systems on municipal buildings and encourage the proliferation of solar panels on private buildings
- The city will continue to encourage the widespread establishment of infrastructure for electric vehicles and develop a fleet of emission-free municipal vehicles
- We will broaden our efforts to preserve existing trees and expand the planting of new trees to provide natural shade and create urban green spaces
Gender equality
The past few months have clearly shown that the standing of women in the public space is fragile and subject to the whims of powerful forces, in Tel Aviv-Jaffa and throughout the country. What looked obvious up until a short while ago is no longer true, and we must struggle all the more strongly for women’s rights and total gender equality.
- We will demand the chair of the Committee for Gender Equality and work for the full implementation of the Her City program, because the ideas are wonderful but the actual execution has been unsatisfactory. This includes transportation for everyone (training public transport drivers about what’s permissible and what’s forbidden), providing accessibility for women in transportation and bolstering safety in the streets
- We will promote compulsory study programs in all municipal educational settings from kindergarten through high school, to be given to all sectors of society. The programs will cover gender equality, training to combat sexual abuse and violence against women, sex education and more as a basis for fostering greater equality
- We will also demand equality in managing the city. It’s highly important that gender equality find expression in the allocation of senior positions, such as department heads, heads of municipal companies and so on. We will apply the Equal Work organization’s Equality Standard, which monitors the staffing of municipal positions so that every department can know exactly where it stands on gender equality and if it needs to increase the presence of women among its decision-makers
