Israeli Arab activist forms new right-wing party – report

Pro-Israel Christian Arab activist Yoseph Haddad reportedly behind formation of new right-wing party, “Brave Israel.”

By World Israel News Staff

Prominent Israeli Arab advocacy activist and IDF veteran Yoseph Haddad is behind a newly submitted application to register a party called “Brave Israel” while continuing to explore possible cooperation with former senior IDF commander Ofer Winter, according to a report Sunday.

Haddad’s name does not appear in the registration documents submitted for the new party, but sources familiar with the process told Ynet that the prospective slate is being organized on his behalf.

The move represents the clearest indication yet that Haddad is preparing an independent vehicle should he decide against joining an established party ahead of Israel’s October election.

At the same time, Haddad has not closed off other routes into the Knesset.

He has been mentioned as a possible candidate for one of the reserved positions on Likud’s electoral slate and is also holding discussions with Brig. Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter, the former Givati Brigade commander who has been weighing his own entry into politics.

Israel is scheduled to hold national elections on October 27, the country’s first general election since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack and the ensuing regional wars.

Party maneuvering has accelerated as the deadline for finalizing candidate lists approaches.

The objectives filed for Brave Israel provide an early indication of the political message Haddad could seek to build a campaign around.

The documents repeatedly emphasize the importance of understanding the political culture of the Middle East and call for Israeli public diplomacy to be treated as part of national security rather than primarily as a public-relations function.

One of the party’s registered objectives calls for a “permanent, proactive, offensive and unapologetic national public diplomacy apparatus” capable of making Israel’s case internationally and challenging hostile narratives abroad.

That emphasis closely reflects Haddad’s public work over the past several years.

The 41-year-old Christian Arab from Nazareth has become one of Israel’s most recognizable international advocates, regularly appearing on foreign television, university campuses and social media to defend the country and challenge accusations directed at Israel and the IDF.

He served as a combat soldier in the Golani Brigade and was seriously wounded during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, losing part of his leg.

Haddad has been moving gradually toward politics for months rather than making a sudden decision.

In July, he held his first meeting with political activists as he considered three main possibilities: establishing an independent party, joining an existing political framework or accepting a reserved position on the Likud slate.

Ynet reported at the time that he had already begun assembling campaign infrastructure and considering voter outreach operations across the country.

Haddad has also built a network of roughly 3,000 young advocacy activists from different sectors of Israeli society, according to Ynet, potentially giving him an existing grassroots organization that could be converted into a political campaign structure.

His representatives stopped short Sunday of confirming that he has made a final decision to run independently.

Haddad “has not hidden the fact that he is considering entering political life,” his representatives said, adding that he has been conducting meetings and examining his next move.

They added that Haddad had recently returned from an advocacy tour in the United States and would continue working on Israel’s behalf regardless of the political framework he ultimately chooses.

Haddad himself has previously laid out a broader political vision that extends beyond advocacy and seeks to challenge the established leadership of Israel’s Arab community.

In a June interview with the Jewish News Syndicate, Haddad accused existing Arab political leaders of focusing more heavily on Palestinians in Gaza and Judea and Samaria than on crime, security and economic problems facing Arab citizens inside Israel.

He argued that an eventual party under his leadership would deliberately seek support from Jews and Arabs rather than functioning as a sectoral Arab list.

“My party would represent every Israeli,” Haddad said. He described his potential constituency as Israelis who identify strongly with the state regardless of whether they are Arab or Jewish, secular or religious.

Haddad has said he wants Israeli Arabs to participate more fully in the country’s political and civic life while rejecting the anti-Zionist approach of several established Arab parties.

He told JNS that he would seek to replace rather than cooperate with those leaders and argued that Israel must combine Western democratic values with a clear understanding of the security realities of the Middle East.

Polling conducted earlier this year suggested there may be an electoral constituency for such a platform.

A February survey by the Midgam polling institute projected that a hypothetical Haddad-led party would receive four seats, putting it just over the electoral threshold.

The same poll found substantially stronger support for Haddad among Jewish respondents than among Arab respondents, with 73% expressing a favorable view of him among Jews compared with 12% among Arab Israelis.

By May, another Midgam poll placed a Haddad-led party at five Knesset seats.

That survey found his support coming primarily from the center-right, including voters who otherwise backed Likud, Otzma Yehudit, Yisrael Beytenu and other parties.

People close to Haddad acknowledged that the survey had been commissioned on his behalf.

His potential appeal to Likud voters has become increasingly relevant as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares the ruling party’s electoral slate.

A survey of Likud members and voters published by Israel Hayom last week found Haddad among the most popular outside figures for a reserved position on the party list.

Some 35.9% of Likud members surveyed selected Haddad as a preferred reserved candidate, while 44.3% of Likud voters did so — the highest figure among the outside candidates presented to the broader Likud electorate.

That gives Haddad an alternative to taking the risk associated with an independent campaign.

The third option now attracting attention is cooperation with Winter.

Winter, 55, spent more than three decades in the IDF and served in a series of senior positions, including commander of the Givati Brigade, commander of the 98th Division, chief of staff of Central Command and military secretary to the defense minister. He has developed a following among religious and nationalist voters since leaving active service and has repeatedly been discussed as a potential political candidate on the Israeli right.

Earlier polling, however, suggested Winter could face difficulty crossing the electoral threshold if he ran alone. A February Midgam survey gave a hypothetical Winter-led party only 2%, while Haddad’s prospective party received four seats in the same series of polling scenarios.

Winter has nevertheless remained a sought-after political figure. In the same recent Israel Hayom survey of Likud voters, 30.4% said they would like to see Winter receive a reserved position on the Likud slate, placing him behind Haddad and journalist Amit Segal among the options presented.

Asked Sunday about the reported discussions with Haddad, Winter’s office gave only a one-word response: **“Patience.”**

A Haddad-Winter combination could potentially bring together two figures with strong security credentials and appeal on the political right but markedly different personal backgrounds: Winter as a religious former general and Haddad as an Arab Christian former combat soldier who has built his public profile around Israeli patriotism and international advocacy.

Whether such an alliance materializes remains uncertain. Haddad could still accept a Likud slot, proceed with Brave Israel on his own or use the newly registered political framework as leverage in negotiations with other parties. Winter likewise has yet to publicly announce his electoral plans.

What is increasingly clear is that Haddad’s months-long flirtation with politics has moved into a more concrete phase. With a party-registration application now filed, activist infrastructure already being assembled and talks underway with figures elsewhere on the right, the question is no longer simply whether Haddad is interested in politics, but which route he will choose to enter it.

2026 Israeli electionOfer WinterYoseph Haddad