Over recent weeks, the Hebrew daily Israel Hayom published a prominent multi-part election supplement titled “Israel Votes.” Ostensibly an informative civic guide ahead of the 26th Knesset elections, the supplement drew criticism across political circles for an unmistakable editorial slant that consistently elevated center-left and right-wing opposition chiefs—specifically Avigdor Liberman, Naftali Bennett, and Gadi Eisenkot.
The project was not funded through Israel Hayom’s standard editorial newsroom budget. Instead, it was bought and underwritten by an external non-governmental organization registered as the “Israeli Movement for Civic Engagement” (operating publicly as Israel 2050), an entity aimed at restructuring Israel’s system of governance. Financial disclosures indicate that the organization’s founder and near-exclusive financial backer is millionaire industrialist Boaz Amitay.
While Amitay maintains a relatively low public profile, he has long operated within the elite financial circles actively backing the anti-government protest movement. He was documented participating in closed-door strategy sessions between Kaplan protest leaders and prominent high-tech financiers, including Kobi Richter and protest organizer Moshe Radman. As early as 2018, following the passage of the Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, Amitay publicly declared that Israeli democracy was facing mortal peril.
Amitay’s broader ideological blueprint is visible across the philanthropic ventures he directs, particularly the “Institute for Israeli Thought,” where he serves as founder and board chairman. The institute previously authored and circulated a radical “Israeli Charter” addressing matters of religion and state.
“The time has arrived for courageous determinations,” the charter states. “Establishing renewed relations between religion and state in Israel—we must release the state from the shackles of religion and release religion from the shackles of the state.”
The document continues: “An Israeli identity detached from religion will enable the forging of a shared narrative essential for generating Israeli social cohesion. We call upon the Israeli state to execute an amicable divorce from religion.” It explicitly concludes: “It must be established that the state has no religion.” As an immediate structural policy step toward realizing this vision, Amitay’s organization advocates the complete abolition and dissolution of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
Amitay has been equally candid regarding the strategic mechanics required to reshape the Israeli electorate. Reacting to sociological research demonstrating Israeli public resistance to territorial concessions and a ‘Palestinian’ state, Amitay outlined how the secular-liberal establishment should deploy capital:
“The liberal-democratic camp has no reason to be alarmed by the data, but must rather awaken, plan, and deploy a plan to transform public attitudes. A multi-year plan financed by the philanthropy of the sane. On our side stands reality, which will support the rationale of our camp against the stupidity, superficiality, and wickedness of the other camp.” Through commercial inserts in mainstream print platforms like Israel Hayom, critics argue that Amitay is putting this doctrine into practice—using private philanthropic wealth to alter voter perceptions, bolster favored opposition leaders, and dismantle traditional religious institutions from within the public square.
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Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
In response to the report, the Israeli Movement for Civic Engagement stated: “Israel 2050 is a nonpartisan youth movement that trains young people for civic engagement and works to promote structural solutions to the issues that concern Israeli citizens. The ‘Israel Votes’ project was designed to present and make accessible to the public information regarding the platform of each party: with an emphasis on facts and practical programs, rather than slogans. The project addressed five central issues concerning the broad public—personal security, the cost of living, October 7 and security doctrine, education, and military conscription—and was published in cooperation with the commercial department of Israel Hayom.”
The organization added: “All political parties were invited to be interviewed and present their stances under identical rules. Parties from both the coalition and the opposition participated, and Education Minister Yoav Kisch served as the lead interviewee on education. In accordance with the foundational principles of Israel 2050, the project did not instruct anyone how to vote, but presented party platforms as formulated by the factions themselves, without prejudice. We invite the public to review the materials and judge for themselves.” A spokesperson for Israel Hayom delivered a separate clarification, emphasizing organizational firewalls: “As was prominently noted and displayed on the pages, this was a commercial marketing supplement executed by the sales department without any editorial involvement from the Israel Hayom newsroom.”