Social Justice (Israeli Political Party)

The Hebrew name Tzedek Hevrati has been attached to several Israeli political efforts whose organizational relationship is not fully established. Sources document Gaydamak's movement in 2007 and a 2019 campaign that described Gad Heren as its founder while referring to an earlier 2013 candidacy.[1][2]

Electorally, a Social Justice municipal list won one Tel Aviv city-council seat in 2008, although Gaydamak's Jerusalem list won none.[3] Lists using the name also fell below the electoral threshold in the 2013 national election and the second Knesset election of 2019.[4][5]

On July 9, 2007, Russian-born billionaire Arkadi Gaydamak announced the creation of the Social Justice Party, stating that his aim was to oust Israel's then-current government.[1] Gaydamak said he would serve as party leader but would not stand for the Knesset or seek to become prime minister, preferring instead to run for mayor of Jerusalem while playing, in his words, "a central role in Israel's political life."[1]

Gaydamak explained the movement's motivation through the Jewish tradition of helping others.[6] By June 2008, he still intended to run for mayor of Jerusalem, and Social Justice planned to field candidates in multiple mayoral races.[7] Earlier reporting also suggested that Gaydamak might support Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu in a national election, although this was presented as a possibility rather than a formal policy commitment.[1]

Gaydamak's 2008 Jerusalem mayoral campaign was closely associated with his Social Justice organization.[8] He competed against candidates including Meir Porush and Nir Barkat, ultimately receiving approximately 3.5–3.6 percent of the vote and winning no seats on the city council.[8][3] Despite Gaydamak's poor showing in Jerusalem, the party's municipal list achieved one seat on Tel Aviv's city council in the same November 11 elections.[3]

Gaydamak's stated political aims for Jerusalem extended beyond electoral office: he sought to influence the city's status and foster relationships among its diverse populations, including meetings between representatives of different religious communities at sporting events.[8]

In April 2008, three members of the Knesset's Pensioners' Party attempted to defect to Gaydamak's Social Justice Party.[7] Had the defections succeeded, they would have reduced the governing coalition's Knesset majority to 64 seats. The Knesset House Committee rejected the arrangement on May 19, 2008, blocking the move.[7]

A list identified as Social Justice ran in Israel's January 2013 election for the 19th Knesset.[4] It failed to cross the 2% qualifying threshold, equivalent to 71,580 votes, and was therefore unrepresented in the Knesset.[4] The Central Elections Committee results page lists Tzedek Hevrati as receiving 2,877 valid votes, or 0.08% of valid votes, with no Knesset mandates.[9] A contemporaneous Ynet report gave the figure as approximately 2,750 votes, possibly reflecting an earlier reporting stage.[10] Social Justice appeared among roughly 20 parties that failed to pass the threshold, alongside lists such as Strength to Israel, Green Leaf, and The Pirates.[4]

In 2014, an organization called "The Freedom to Choose — The Freedom to Be Elected" reportedly offered to purchase Gaydamak's Social Justice party for 500,000 shekels. The organization said the funds came from Israeli and foreign businesspeople but did not disclose their identities.[11] The party did not participate in the 2015 elections.[12]

In January 2019, a campaign using the Social Justice name prepared to contest the April Knesset election. N12 described Gad Heren as the party's founder and first candidate, Yoni Sapir as its chair, and reserve officer and Yom Kippur War veteran Motty Ashkenazi as a prominent figure on the list.[2] Its first five candidates were Gad Heren, Motty Ashkenazi, Nazim Sabti, At Batli Israeli, and Yulia Ben Moshe.[13]

The platform combined social and environmental justice, advocating a welfare state serving older and younger citizens and people with disabilities while emphasizing economic and health security.[2] Its headline proposal was a Basic Law on "existence with dignity," intended to guarantee every citizen an economic foundation sufficient to live honorably.[14] The campaign also proposed raising benefits for elderly and disabled people to at least 5,300 shekels per individual, revising the natural-gas framework, moving the Leviathan gas platform farther from shore, and expanding renewable energy.[2]

Heren characterized Social Justice as a movement without generals, tycoons, princes, or professional politicians, focused on closing Israel's social divide and representing ordinary daily life.[14] The campaign included representatives of disability-rights and senior-citizen struggles.[14]

During the second 2019 Knesset election, a separate list reported under the same Hebrew name was led by social activist Avi Yalou. It focused on equality for Ethiopian Israelis, received approximately 2,300 votes, and did not pass the electoral threshold.[5]

The documented significance of the Social Justice name lay less in electoral representation than in repeated attempts to place social-welfare concerns on municipal and national ballots. Gaydamak's 2008 effort secured only one Tel Aviv council seat, while the 2013 national list remained below the electoral threshold.[3][4]

In 2019, campaigns using the name foregrounded dignified existence, benefits for elderly and disabled citizens, environmental policy, and equality for Ethiopian Israelis.[2][5] The varying leaders and constituencies attached to the name also illustrate its use by several distinct or incompletely connected political initiatives.

The principal uncertainty concerns institutional continuity. A 2007 source identifies Gaydamak as the founder of Social Justice, while the 2019 N12 profile describes Gad Heren as founder and links that campaign to the 2013 election without clarifying its relationship to Gaydamak's organization.[1][2] Sources also differ on the 2013 vote count: the Central Elections Committee page lists 2,877 votes under the transliteration Tzedek Hevrati, while Ynet reported 2,750 for Social Justice.[9][10]

Gaydamak's separate legal history should not be described solely as unresolved allegations. A later Ynet account reported that a French court acquitted him in 2011 of illegal arms-trading charges but convicted him of tax and money-laundering offenses connected to the affair. It also reported that an Israeli case ended with his conviction under a plea agreement for a lesser offense rather than the original money-laundering charge.[8]