Shalev laid out his vision for joining the Knesset in a recent interview with The Jerusalem Post, stating that he aims to be the voice for the younger generation and help shape the country\u2019s future in the aftermath of October 7.<\/p>\n
Together is a core party in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> in the upcoming elections, set for October 27.<\/p>\n \u201cThe younger generation isn\u2019t looking to finger-point. It is looking for solutions. It is looking to live in the most promising country there is in the Middle East,\u201d Shalev told the Post.<\/p>\n Before entering the political realm, he co-founded Shoulder to Shoulder, an organization that represents young Israelis and reservists serving in the IDF.<\/p>\n Who is Yonatan Shalev, reservist activist?\u00a0<\/p>\n Shalev said that the loss of his close friend in the military during the war had pushed him to found the organization. \u201cWhen he was murdered, I understood that I wanted to do something big.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI understood that it\u2019s the time for the younger generation to shine. I really believe in the younger generation and also in young people\u2019s innovations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The organization advocates for universal conscription and legislation to enforce haredi (ultra-Orthodox) enlistment. Shalev has been a vocal critic of the legislation advanced by Netanyahu\u2019s coalition, which critics argue encourages draft evasion amid the IDF\u2019s severe staffing shortage.<\/p>\n Why Yonatan Shalev believes in young people’s ability to change Israel<\/p>\n Shalev explained that he believed putting young people in politics would lead to more solutions in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, there are hundreds of thousands of young Israeli Jews who are not represented in the Knesset, which is crazy,\u201d he said, noting that the current youngest member of Knesset was nearly 40.<\/p>\n \u201cThe generation that jumped, saved Israel, fought for [the country] over two and a half years \u2013 this is one that truly understands our needs.\u201d<\/p>\n Shalev explained that someone young needed to be inside the political arena and enter the Knesset \u201cto make the right decisions in order for us to live in a promising country.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYoung people carry the world. They have invented some of the most important innovations in modern history, so why can\u2019t the younger generation in Israel, who had to fight in order to not only keep Israel safe but to save Israel, do so?\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking on why he chose to join Bennett\u2019s list, Shalev first said that the younger generation has been looking for solutions, and that he believed Bennett best represented the country\u2019s youth.<\/p>\n \u201cBennett is the youngest candidate of them all. And he was an amazing prime minister.\u201d<\/p>\n Shalev described the government led by Bennett as able to place the entire country in a different reality, one that is less divided.<\/p>\n \u201c[The country] wasn\u2019t in flames all the time, and it wasn\u2019t as polarized,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\nTogether party member Yonatan Shalev sits down in The Jerusalem Post studio along with political reporter Keshet Neev, July 28 2026. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM\/THE JERUSALEM POST)<\/p>\n