Omer Patziniach Waldman

Omer Patziniach Waldman, 29, is a reserve officer and one of the leaders of the reservists' protest. Since the outbreak of the war, she has been active on both the military and civilian fronts, calling for decisive victory, governance, sovereignty and a fundamental change in national priorities.

Patziniach Waldman is married and a mother. Since October 7, she has served in the reserves as an artillery liaison officer. After her first period of reserve duty, she was among the founders of the Reservists - Generation of Victory movement, which demanded decisive victory and sought to change Israel's security doctrine through public protest, media activity and other initiatives.

"I did not plan to enter politics. I never saw myself as a political figure and had no political ambitions. But after almost three years in which I witnessed, up close, the gap between the tremendous strength of the soldiers and the public and the way decisions are made, I understood that the time had come for people driven by ideals to take the reins.

"We are a generation that no longer only draws strength from the stories of heroism of those who came before us and hopes to be worthy of them. We have proved that we are worthy. We left families, children, jobs and entire lives behind and charged into the mission. Now it is our turn to take responsibility for the way this country is run.

"I chose Zehut because I found in it what I was missing in Israeli politics: ideology before seats, identity before spin, and no apologies for who we are. We must not apologize for being the Jewish people or for this being the state of the Jewish people. We must hold our heads high with pride and act with governance, sovereignty and strength.

"During the war, I understood something else: we are not mercenaries. You cannot repeatedly ask people to go out and fight, risk their lives and leave their families behind without connecting them to something greater than themselves. We are a link in a chain of generations. We are Jews, religious and secular, and we are fighting for our home. Now it is our turn to take responsibility for it."

Omer represents the voice Israel needs now: the voice of a generation of courage that refuses to entrust its future once again to the same doctrine that led to October 7. This generation is not asking to join the old political game, but to replace it with vision, identity and responsibility. Her decision to join is an expression of a deeper process in Israeli society: the generation called to the battlefield understands that, for its sacrifice not to be in vain, it must also assume responsibility for leading the country. Welcome home, Omer.