Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon to promote his new party campaign. To begin, Barak launched into the current turmoils affecting the country’s Ethiopian community and the resulting protests that have swept across the country over the past few days.

“I’d like to send my heartfelt condolences, on behalf of my friends and family, to Solomon’s family for the painful loss of his son Solomon Takka,” he said.

“The Israelis of Ethiopian origin have often experienced discrimination and over-enforcement, and a quick, fearless, and impartial investigation is required here. I won’t go into the details of the incident itself, but Solomon’s death was difficult, outrageous, and unnecessary. As a society, we must do everything that we can in order to make certain that these difficult and heartrending episodes don’t repeat themselves. Israeli society as a whole must uproot any manifestation of racism or labeling by race, gender, or color,” Barak emphasized.

“My position is that the relationship between Judaism and Israel’s heritage together with the State of Israel is deep and complex – these are our roots, the reason we came here, and the source of the human connection between us all,” Barak said.

“It’s time for a change, it’s time for correction, it’s about time we became one nation. The time has come for Israel to flourish for all Israelis. Therefore, we’re here today to tell the public that any government that we will be a part of, will, within 12 months of its formation, cancel the Draft Law. We will end this Israbluff. We’ll bring and implement a combination program: From recruitment in appearance, to actual integration. We’re committed to slicing this Gordian knot that’s become a dead end… We will move forward from failed coercion to successful integration,” Barak promised.

“I, your servant, 20 years ago as prime minister – I established the Tal Committee that dealt with the question of enlisting yeshiva students and postponing IDF service. We all had good intentions. But one must tell the truth. Implementing the Tal Law failed. And that was the fate of all the attempts since then. So it’s time to tell the truth! It didn’t work and won’t work. Again, the time has come for leadership that will take responsibility and act to change reality from the ground up,” Barak continued.

“The integration program we’re committed to is based on four elements: First, the IDF will recruit according to its needs, and everyone who wants to serve in it will continue to be the ‘People’s Army.’ Those serving in the IDF will receive appropriate salaries. Second, all the other young men and women in society, including Arabs, will serve national-civil service. Thirdly, most Chareidi citizens, women and men, will participate in the employment market. Fourth, an honorable arrangement for a group of outstanding Torah scholars whose Torah is their profession, as part of the Jewish tradition and commitment that David Ben-Gurion declared,” Barak elaborated.

“Our goal is to bring Israel back on track and topple Netanyahu’s regime. We won’t sit with him in government under any circumstances or in any way. We’ll join hands to bring him down and after his departure, we’ll sit with all those who agree with the principles of our concept: a Jewish, Zionist, and democratic state, in the spirit of the values of the Declaration of Independence and the vision of the Prophets. We bring with us what was missing in the previous elections: recognition of the size of the bloc and prevention of internal strife within it. As the main ingredient on the road to victory, we bring focused energy, which was so lacking in the previous campaign. And we call on all parties in the Leftist bloc to join hands and unite into one winning fist. We have no preconditions, except for unity of purpose. And we will fight for this belief as much as we can,” closed Barak.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)