Three principles guide the newly established Reservists Party that are foundational and determine who the party will be willing to sit with in the next elections, M.-Sgt. (Res.) Roy Frank, a founder of the party, told The Jerusalem Post.
Frank’s comments come after the party officially registered to run in the elections last week.
The party is led by former communications minister Yoaz Hendel, who is also the founder and chairman of the “Miluimnikim” movement.
The Reservists Party comprises reserve soldiers, their families, wounded IDF veterans, bereaved families, and civilian volunteers. It positions itself as a response to the leadership vacuum that followed the October 7 attacks.
In conversation with the Post, Frank elaborated on the party’s main goals and principles, providing details on its plans ahead of the next elections, currently scheduled for October 2026.
Frank serves in the reserves and has attended numerous Knesset committee meetings, where he has advocated for universal conscription in the country, as well as the creation of a haredi (ultra-Orthodox) conscription law, a long-debated issue in the country.
Frank explained that the Reservists Party is based on three main principles and goals, which are “very simple, very straightforward.”
“The principles are, first, a Zionist unity government. The second is conscription for all, real conscription, that truly drafts everyone. And the third principle is a state commission of inquiry into the events of October 7,” Frank said.
Frank expanded on what it means to have a Zionist unity government, stating that it would consist of “whoever supports building Israel, and supports the army, which is a basic part of this country’s ability to exist.”
The party situates itself Center-Right, specifically on security issues.
“We support strength, secure borders, and settlement,” Frank said.
However, Frank added, “that doesn’t mean I won’t sit with someone who thinks differently, as long as they serve shoulder to shoulder with me [in the military]. I’ll definitely sit with them, just as I fight alongside them.”
The Reservists would be willing to sit with parties on both the right and left of the political spectrum, including Arab and haredi parties, as long as those parties would agree to the three principles, Frank told the Post.
The Reservists would also be open to sitting in a government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – on the condition that Netanyahu’s party would agree to the three principles, Frank said.
“It doesn’t matter which name. Netanyahu, or [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir, or [The Democrats head] Yair Golan. The names don’t matter if we agree on the principles,” Frank explained.
HE ALSO stated that the Reservists Party would insist on its principles before the formation of the government and would walk out if they were not upheld.
When asked if the party would run independently or be open to political alliances, Frank said that they are “definitely open” to mergers.
“We’re new,” he said, “except for Yoaz, who has a political past. We look at people based on what they’ve done since October 7. If you’ve acted meaningfully for Israel, we want you with us.”
When asked if the party would consider joining the newly formed “change bloc,” which consists of various heads of Israel’s opposition parties who have said they are working to form guidelines for a government that would replace Netanyahu, Frank responded that currently they “don’t place ourselves in any bloc, neither right nor left or ‘change.’”
Those who don’t serve shouldn’t be allowed to run or vote for the Knesset, Frank says
Regarding serving in the IDF, Frank said, “Our clear position is that those who do not serve the state should not have the right to run for the Knesset.”
“They shouldn’t even have the right to vote for the Knesset, because they shouldn’t influence decision-making if they don’t participate in service,” Frank added.
Frank, who has repeatedly visited the Knesset, joining discussions on forming the haredi draft law, explained his position on the direction the conscription law is currently headed.
New work is being conducted on the draft law since MK Boaz Bismuth (Likud) replaced MK Yuli Edelstein (Likud) as the head of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Edelstein’s ousting came after the controversy surrounding the negotiations regarding the haredi law proposal, which led to the departure of the two haredi parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, from the government in July.
When asked about where the law was headed, Frank said that the government was not moving in the correct direction with the bill.
Frank also told the Post that if he and members of the Miluimnikim movement hadn’t shown up “week after week in committees, voicing our cry, taking MKs aside for one-on-one talks, keeping this in the media [...] a law would have passed that drafts no one, certainly not combat soldiers.”
“The fact that we prevented that law is our success. But it’s far from enough. We’re at war. We needed a real draft law a year and a half ago. It didn’t happen. And I don’t believe it will happen with this government. Bismuth is just there to stall.”
“Meanwhile, reservists are on their fifth or sixth round of reserve service – 300, 400, 500 days. Families, jobs, studies, all sacrificed. Some employers are supportive, but after nearly two years, they replace you anyway. Some aren’t supportive at all. That’s part of the change we want to create in society.”
“Bottom line: this government won’t deliver. Every day, they prove it. We must replace them,” Frank said.
Frank said he and the members of the Reservists Party feel it is their duty to build this party.
“Believe me, none of us wanted this before October 7. But we realized, just like reservists who drop everything and come when called, we also have no choice here.”