Yesh Atid lawmaker Yasmin Fridman told JNS on Monday that while she would not join a governing coalition with the Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al alliance, she has no personal objection to partnering with Ra’am and its chairman, Mansour Abbas, in a coalition following Israel’s Oct. 27 elections.
“They [Hadash-Ta’al] incite against the country, and that’s my limit. I won’t do it. I understand that people choose to vote for them, but I won’t,” Fridman said. “I have no problem personally sitting with Mansour Abbas because I sat with him for a year and a half in the past, and he only did good things. He understands the country and represents moderate Arab Israelis. Without partnerships like this, we are putting ourselves at risk of internal conflict.”
“I think we need to invest in Israel’s Arab society—in education, employment and infrastructure. If we don’t, we’ll be the ones who suffer,” she added.
Fridman was referring to the coalition government formed by Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and then-Yamina chief Naftali Bennett, which served from June 2021 to December 2022.
After four inconclusive elections between 2019 and 2021, Bennett became prime minister under a rotation agreement with Lapid, who succeeded him in office before the coalition collapsed in late 2022. The government included Abbas’s Ra’am party. Netanyahu returned to power after Likud won the 2022 election.
In April, Bennett and Lapid announced they would run together on a joint electoral slate in the upcoming Knesset election under the name Together (“Beyachad” in Hebrew).
Most opinion polls show Beyachad running in third place, behind Likud and Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar Party.
“At the end of the day, we understand that after Oct. 7, there is an inclination among the public to move further to the right on the political spectrum,” said Fridman, referring to the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. “Bennett is a man of the right—liberal, religious and guided by strong values. The bloc needs to unite behind one leader, and for us, that leader is Bennett,” she continued.
She said Yesh Atid brings experienced, hardworking and honest lawmakers to the partnership, adding that while disagreements exist—as they do throughout Israeli society—the goal is to build on common ground and work together toward shared objectives. She acknowledged that the two parties have yet to discuss major security issues, including their respective positions on Iran, Lebanon and Gaza.
During the first three months of the “government of change,” the coalition formed by Bennett and Lapid in 2021, Fridman said the government increased income support benefits for elderly people and individuals with disabilities.
“There were protests during which citizens with disabilities blocked the Azrieli Junction. We also doubled the annual grant for Holocaust survivors from 3,500 to 7,000 shekels” ($1,152 to $2,304), she said.
Fridman joined Yesh Atid 14 years ago, during the party’s early days, as a volunteer. She said she was drawn to its centrist ideology and diversity.
“I grew up in Beersheva in the 1970s. It was like the Tower of Babel. My father was from Egypt and my mother from Bulgaria. Next to us lived a family whose parents were both from Morocco. In every house, families spoke different languages,” she said.
As chair of the Caucus for Food Rescue and Reducing Food Waste, Fridman said one of the laws she is most proud of focuses on reducing waste from prepared meals. She advanced the legislation in partnership with Shas MK Yinon Azoulay, she noted.
In Israel, approximately 23 billion shekels’ ($7.6 billion) worth of food is discarded each year, Fridman said. Her legislation aims to strengthen food security by requiring government organizations that serve more than 500 meals a day to donate surplus food, upon request, to recognized food rescue organizations, subject to food safety and logistical requirements.
The law applies to the Knesset, the State Comptroller’s Office, local authorities, government companies and their subsidiaries, municipal corporations, and statutory corporations, including the Bank of Israel, the National Insurance Institute, the Israel Airports Authority and the Israel Securities Authority.
Before entering the Knesset, Fridman served for eight years as a Beersheva city council member. She focused on issues including public housing, low-income families and socioeconomic disparities in Israel’s periphery, and worked extensively in Bedouin neighborhoods.
“I saw food insecurity in those neighborhoods, as well as in Jewish communities, and this is something that deeply motivates me. If I can solve the issue of food insecurity in Israel, that will be enough for me,” she said.
Fridman added that reducing food waste would also mean fewer animals being slaughtered.
She also sought to pass legislation requiring food products that have reached 90% of their shelf life to be placed on designated shelves and sold at discounted prices. Fridman said the measure would help low-income families increase their purchasing power while reducing food waste.
“A family with four children could use milk and cottage cheese that expire in two days because the products would be consumed immediately after being brought home, while allowing them to purchase them at a lower price. Today, there are low-income families throughout the country in which both parents work but can barely make ends meet,” she said.
The second law Fridman highlighted concerned foster children. She said she advanced the legislation together with United Torah Judaism MK Yitzhak Pindrus.
In Israel, Fridman said, when a couple took in a foster child with a disability who was eligible for a National Insurance disability allowance, the child lost that benefit upon moving in with the foster family.
“This foster family decided to save the life of a child. They took in a child with a disability, which means they now have to invest in that child and care for them, take them to doctors and therapists. There are a million and one things they need to do, and they weren’t even entitled to that benefit. I fixed that,” she said.
Noting that it was the second law she passed in cooperation with a coalition lawmaker, Fridman said meaningful legislation can still garner bipartisan support.
As chair of the Caucus for Animal Welfare, Fridman, whose office walls are lined with framed pictures of animals, said she has also advanced significant reforms related to wildlife hunting and trafficking. She is developing a comprehensive plan to combat animal cruelty, she told JNS.
“I hope to be here after the next elections and push this issue as much as possible,” she said.
