Acknowledgements
The Zehut platform took the “long short” road – a very long way in editing, but in a very short time (less than a year, because there is not sufficient time for this kind of process). This road would not have reached its objective without the generous help of a great many, who contributed advice, writing, long hours, and remarkable dedication. Please note that we received a great deal of help, including entire chapters, from people who are not politically affiliated with the Zehut Party, but still wanted and agreed to contribute and help, and often this contribution was crucial.
The Zehut platform is the result of a unique community effort in every sense of the word, and was made possible thanks to technologies available, thank G-d, in our day, and for that we acknowledge the Google corporation for its Google Docs platform and the Facebook corporation, which runs the WhatsApp program, without both of which, the platform would not have been able to have been written in the cooperative and quick manner in which it was written.
Thank you to the Platform Committee, which ran the editing, writing and polishing of the platform from its first draft until the finished product: Eliyahu Ben Asher (Chairman), Tomer Rezhokovski, Uri Noy, Raziel Hess Green, David Ovadia and Rabbi Dudi Spitz.
Thank you to all those[1] who contributed entire chapters[2] to the platform: Uri Noy and Moshe Feiglin,[3] Eliyahu Ben Asher and Tomer Rezhkovski,[4] Moti Heinrich,[5] Shai Malka,[6] Niv Amit and Yonadav Stern,[7] Uri Stauber,[8] Dr. Yair Weissman,[9] Eran Bar-Tal,[10] Dr. Rafael Mines,[11] Gilad Alper,[12] Raziel Hess Green,[13] Shlomo Gordon[14] and Aaron Jian.[15]
Special thanks are due to a group of people who mobilized for hard, continuous, and grinding work alongside the Platform Committee to improve the platform in content, style, formulation and proofreading: Moshe Schiller,[16] Binyamin Elitzur,[17] Yair Mechta,[18] Yoseph Lebrun, Yehiel Bracha, Yaakov Kagan, Lior Meir Ben-Haim, Noa Ben-Asher, Lisa Liel, Ravid Gabai, Nitzan Fuchs, Snir Goldfinger, Gilad Haniya, Uri Stauber, Yonadav Stern, Baruch Dror, Yitzchak Yugav, Motti Heinrich, Assaf Ben-Dor[19] and Gilad Alper.
In addition to this, the party would like to thank the enormous community of activists and party members who submitted their comments, suggestions and criticisms during the period of writing. There is no way to mention them by name, because their number is measured in many dozens.
A separate thank you goes out to the numerous rabbis and scholars who were asked by the Platform Committee to give their opinions and advice concerning various issues in the platform, who agreed to assist and were a great help: Rabbi Dr. Doron Ledvin and Rabbi Hananel Zaini,[20] Rabbi Yitzchak Brand,[21] Rabbi Dr. Baruch Kahana,[22] Rabbi Elitzur Segal, and also Yehoshua Etzion.[23]
[1] Order of appearance is based on the number of chapters contributed by each person.
[2] No chapter contributed to the platform remained as it was, and there is no paragraph that was not subjected to dozens of eyes and hands, but there is room to point out those who initially wrote the chapters.
[3] Uri Noy and Moshe Feiglin wrote the first draft of the platform by chapters over a period of several months, before it was taken over by the committee. After that, Uri Noy took over the bulk of the work on the chapter on security and the political plan, as well as the chapter on the judiciary. Moshe Feiglin subsequently added a draft of the chapter on Jerusalem and a draft of reducing the state apparatus, which were rewritten and edited by Eliyahu and Uri.
[4] Tomer and Eliyahu wrote the framework for the introductory chapters, the chapters on Judaism and culture, the framework for the economic and social chapters, the chapters on civil liberty and other chapters.
[5] The chapter on Housing, which was rewritten and edited by Tomer.
[6] Road Safety.
[7] The chapter on The Family which was rewritten and edited by Tomer.
[8] The chapter on The Community Model, which was rewritten and edited by Tomer.
[9] The chapter on Transportation, which was conducted by Moshe Schiller, Eliyahu and Tomer.
[10] The chapter on Health, which was rewritten and edited by Tomer.
[11] Industry and Commerce, which was rewritten and edited by Tomer.
[12] The chapter on The Cost of Living, which was rewritten and edited by Tomer.
[13] Expanding the chapter on Education and the chapter on The Biometric Database.
[14] The chapter on Reforming Driving Lessons, which was rewritten and edited by Eliyahu.
[15] The Agriculture chapter he wrote was not finished enough to be included in the platform.
[16] For the continuous and daily proofreading work for months, in content, proofreading and technical assistance.
[17] For the amazing marathon work of finishing the platform.
[18] For the continuous guidance of preparing the platform with an effort to improve and polish formulations and in particular finding sources and references.
[19] Whose article responding to the Housing Program was the main catalyst for Tomer's decision to build the chapter anew.
[20] Who in the wake of repeated calls with each of them separately, an outline of the chapters on Judaism, Identity and Culture came together gradually, even though many of its details do not follow the views of either of them.
[21] Who thanks to his alertness, Shemitah did not go missing in the platform.
[22] Who reviewed the chapter on Jewish civil law.
[23] Who despite reservations about the political direction of Zehut, also helped with direct advice and especially through his work on the writings of Shabtai Ben-Dov and plans for Jerusalem.