The Communist Party of Israel (CPI) is preparing its 26^th Congress, which will be held on March 15^th – 17^th. The opening event will be take place in Haifa (March 15^th), and the discussions will take place in Nazareth (March 16-17^th).

The Congress will be held in a period of turbulent developments in the Middle East, with popular movements protesting for democracy and social justice, and the forces of Imperialism maneuvering to take advantage of the events for their interests. Benjamin Netanyahu’s Right-extremist government, which enjoys the backing of US Imperialism, is continuously threatening with a new war of aggression, this time against the people of Iran. Such an aggression would have grave consequences for the peoples of the region, with especially disastrous results for the people in Israel.

Netanyahu’s government is pursuing a rejectionist policy towards the Palestinian leadership, willing to hold negotiations provided that the key issue is left off the table: Ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Establishing an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, with East Jerusalem as its capital; Dismantling all settlements and the Separation Wall, and solving the problem of Palestinian refugees, according to UN resolutions.

Within Israel, we are emerging from a period of acute social protest, which swept the country in the recent summer, bringing hundreds of thousands to the streets in protest of the rising cost of living, the lack of affordable housing, and the government’s policies of widening social gaps.

The recent period of mass social protest, opened up great possibilities for the creation of a progressive pole in Israeli society, which could take up the cause of blocking the government’s neo-liberal reforms and defending workers rights. Yet at the same time, ours is also a period of a reactionary wave of racist and anti-democratic legislation, intensification of attacks against the Arab minority within Israel, and growing danger of fascism.

These challenges oblige the CPI to prepare for them, while emphasizing our political and ideological foundations. Thereby stems the importance of our 26^th Congress. Among the subjects that will be on the agenda for discussion in the upcoming CPI Congress: (1) The world capitalist crisis and the changes in Israeli capitalism; (2) Developments in the Arab world, following the popular uprisings; (3) The working class in Israel and the CPI’s activity among its ranks; (4) Achieving a just and lasting peace; Defending democracy and stopping fascism; (5) The struggle for complete equality for the Arab minority within Israel; (6) Struggling against Zionism; (7) Socialism in the 21^st Century.

According to the Report of the Central Committee to the 26^th Congress, under conditions of growing distrust of the regime, of growing criticism of the policy of privatization and the enrichment of the rich, of hundreds of thousands of people mobilizing under the banner of social justice, of growing international isolation of the policy of violence and occupation, of deepening contention over the questions of democracy and national and civil equality – we Israeli Communists, Jewish and Arab, carry a heavy load of responsibility. “We are proud of the fact that reality bears out our analysis and the policies we support and implement. But we cannot be content with this. The immediate tasks at hand for us in the next few years are:

1. To put great efforts into strengthening the CPI, extending its activities among workers, improving our activities among the youth and fostering the Israeli Union of Communist Youth.
2. To redouble our efforts to bring about cooperation among all democratic forces in the struggle against the attempts to enforce a fascist agenda in Israel; to establish a broad anti-fascist front to hold back the forces of the extreme right.
3. To consolidate a partnership among the forces of the left in Israel, above and beyond our disagreements on ideological questions, on the basis of a clear political program. The elements of this political program: two states along the borders of 4 June 1967; opposition to occupation, settlements and war; full civil equality for the Arab population of Israel; Jewish-Arab partnership; opposition to all nationalistic isolationism; socialist values; progressive environmental-social struggle; true equality for women. This partnership will be based on the existing partnership within Hadash (The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality – DFPE) and an effort to extend it.
4. To further unity in the struggle of the Arab public in Israel against discrimination, racist incitement, home demolitions and land expropriation, and for full civil and national equality.
5. To promote of Jewish-Arab partnership within our institutions and those we participate in, and construction of such partnerships across Israeli society.
6. To deepen the political-ideological education of the members of the Party and disseminate the ideas of Marxism-Leninism among the youth, women and the public at large.
7. To extend the membership of the CPI.
8. To overcome the organizational weaknesses in the party’s work, encourage personal responsibility among Party members, and strengthen ties between the organization’s institutions – branches, districts and the Central Committee.
9. To heighten the CPI’s presence as a factor in the public consciousness.
10. To prepare for the upcoming elections to the Histadrut Federation of Labor, the 19^th Knesset and municipal authorities.”

Related: Communist Party of Israel, Resumé of the Report of the Central Committee to the 26^th Congress