Oz Ben Nun, CEO of the Ribuo Center and author of We Are the Servants, appeared on Arutz 7 in a new podcast episode hosted by Uzi Baruch. In the interview, he argued that Israel must stop “bowing” to the ultra-Orthodox sector, change the economic rules of the game, and redefine who is fit to lead the country.
Ben Nun described where he was on October 7, 2023, saying he had just returned with his wife from a Jewish Agency posting in the United States and was setting up their new apartment in Gilo, Jerusalem. While staying with his wife’s parents in Beit Shemesh, they first understood the scale of the disaster. His reserve unit was among the first called up, and he rushed to Alon Shvut to collect personal gear. He said the experience felt like a “flashback” to the Yom Kippur War stories, and recalled driving onto Road 232 at 4 p.m. and later hearing an older member of a local defense squad ask, “So now you come?”
He said he has completed about 200 days of reserve duty, but the strongest weight he carries is the memory of friends who did not return. The bracelet on his wrist is dedicated to Maj. Ofek Behar, his team member from Sayeret Egoz, who was killed in Lebanon while serving as a company commander in Golani’s reconnaissance unit.
Ben Nun said that loss helped shape the book and the Ribuo Center’s core idea, that Israeli identity should be built on action, service, and volunteering rather than declarations or shared ideology. He said this definition is open to Haredim, Arabs, and secular Jews alike, as long as they take part in carrying the national burden, and cited Avi Karr as an example of rapid civilian fundraising for military and civilian equipment after the war began.
Much of his criticism focused on Haredi conscription and the “Torah study law,” which he called a disgrace. He rejected the framing of the issue as democracy versus Judaism or army versus Torah, saying it is “Torah against Torah,” and argued that his own religious education teaches Jewish solidarity. His proposed solution is not to abolish Torah study, but to regulate it, similar to the status of outstanding athletes, while also creating legal and economic consequences for citizens who do not share the burden. He also criticized the current political system, warned of similar governance problems in Arab society, predicted the next election could end in a complex deadlock, and called for lowering the electoral threshold to bring in “new blood.”
