After recent announcements in the media by Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, and Blue and White, the citizens of Israel might be permitted to think that the leaders of the left-wing bloc would announce that they would accept the results of a democratic election and not lead Israeli society into chaos.
Anyone who is already claiming that the election results will be undemocratic, that the coronavirus outbreak will be exploited to interfere with voting, or who denigrates and slanders right-wing voters is laying the groundwork for a refusal to accept the democratic decision made at the polls. There is no bigger danger to a democracy than disgusting attempts to delegitimize election results, especially from those who speak of democracy in lofty terms but are overwhelmed by the sense of an impending loss.
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Today is our third election in under a year. The choice is between the Right, led by Benjamin Netanyahu as head of the Likud, and the left-wing bloc, under Benny Gantz with support from the Joint Arab List and Avigdor Lieberman, who is driven by a desire for personal revenge. It is a choice between the ideology of the Right, which has led Israel to great achievements, and the hollow slogans and clichés that echo the campaign billboards which read "Anyone but Bibi," and more recently, "Anyone but Erdogan." This is a choice between a leadership that knows how to handle a burgeoning global economic crisis, just like it saved the Israeli economy in 2008, and a leadership comprised of labor union members, amateurs, that would drag Israel back decades and cause immense harm to the financial market, mutual funds, and pension plans.
In this election, like the previous two, the well-known scenario is repeating itself. There is no discussion of important issues to the future of the country – only gossip, slander, and mudslinging. The detour from important issues is a clear indication that Blue and White has nothing to offer in place of the Right, led by the Likud. Gantz and his friends at the top haven't said anything, because they don't have anything to say, and what they have said often prompts ridicule. They realized that there is no point in trying to argue with the success of the right-wing government, and they had better focus on nonsense.
The advantage of today's election is that most Israelis have lost their innocence when it comes to decisions by law enforcement, including the undisclosed reasons why top law enforcement officials are covering up supposed criminal acts in the upper echelon of Blue and White that would make the cases against Netanyahu look like small potatoes.
The public has also realized that many media outlets are enthralled by Blue and White. It looks as if the list is the one paying their salaries. There is also a sense that Blue and White political analyst Yisrael Bachar voiced what many people think about the Blue and White leadership's fitness to handle defense and security matters.
At such a vital moment, don't let feelings of hatred overshadow your wisdom. Go out and vote, because voting means you have an effect. Let reason win.
