From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Liberman adds advocates for reservists’ families, Russian community to Yisrael Beytenu slate
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
The hawkish opposition Yisrael Beytenu party announces that civil society leaders Dalit Kislev Spector and Michaela Levin-Shamir are joining its ranks ahead of the elections.
Kislev Spector, whose husband and two sons are reservists, co-founded the advocacy group Ima Era (Wide-awake Mother) after the October 7, 2023, attacks, to support families of combat soldiers and reservists. A labor lawyer, she also represents reservists in employment disputes related to their service.
“Since October 7, my personal and public reality has changed,” she says in a statement, adding that “it is no longer enough to fight from the outside.”
Kislev Spector adds that Yisrael Beytenu is the only party “consistently and clearly advancing a responsible, liberal Zionist right-wing agenda, with a genuine commitment to equality in service and to strengthening those who serve the state.”
Levin-Shamir, also a lawyer, co-founded the One Million Lobby group, which represents Israel’s roughly 1.2 million Russian-speaking citizens.
The party adds that she is heading its “Generation 1.5 Forum” which advocates for the Russian-speaking despite “serving in the IDF, working, paying taxes, and shouldering their share of the burden” continue to “encounter discrimination and unequal rights.”
Yisrael Beytenu, which represents Israel’s largely secular Russian-speaking community, has long pushed to overhaul policies shaped by religious authorities, including marriage, divorce and military conscription.
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