We can assume that many people are sick of the sights and sounds popping up at party events these past few days. Participants weren't spared the invective opponents hurled at each other. In one party, the leader was called a tyrant and a liar, and other similar names.
There is a minority of Knesset members from the ruling Likud party, whose conduct has besmirched not only their faction but the entire parliament. The party leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is disturbed by the attorney-general's upcoming decision about the corruption cases involving him.
Another party lost its leadership after two ministers jumped ship and set up a competing party.
It appears the rancid atmosphere hasn't skipped any faction, and the election is just getting started. It's safe to assume that many are wondering, as I am, if it is appropriate to vote for such candidates. By doing so, would they strengthen a leader who has been called a liar or a tyrant? Or perhaps it would be better to publicly punish the former IDF chief who keeps insulting other politicians – he's courting our vote while withholding information about his plans from us.
It looks like the upcoming election will award one party or another, despite their contributions to making public life ugly. We've already forgotten the atmosphere in the outgoing Knesset, which Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein openly laments.
But voters can "punish" wayward elected officials behaving like bazaar merchants. The voters don't have to accept the convention that this is the face of politics, and nothing can be done about it.
Something can be done. Or more precisely, there's one thing voters shouldn't do – stay at home on election day. Because voters have no other way of punishing parties for their consistently poor behavior. Only when attempts to sway voters become fruitless and phones are slammed down on volunteers, will the politicians realize they failed in their attempts to pander for votes.
Voting is not obligatory, either for the Knesset or in local elections. There are democratic countries in which citizens have a constitutional obligation to vote, and anyone who doesn't faces a fine. Belgium, Argentina, and other countries have made voting mandatory. Recently, so did India.
Not voting is contrary to democracy. But the party leaders and some party officials have made democratic life so very tiresome recently. Wouldn't it be appropriate to punish those who are fouling public life and creating such a sense of disgust?
People failing to vote isn't a sin. It's a punishment for the sins of politicians.
