Dr. Haim Shine – www.israelhayom.com

For the country's sake, Netanyahu trial must go on

Noga Martin — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 08:21:52 +0000

The more Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu's trial moves forward, the more it appears the unprecedented indictment, in which hundreds of millions of shekels have been invested and which has dragged Israel into a state of political chaos beneath the "anyone but Netanyahu" slogan, was in fact aimed at promoting a government revolution. And it worked. Central witnesses for the prosecution, who are mainly state witnesses, have now become witnesses for the defense.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Police investigators on the witness stand say they did not really know what they were supposed to investigate, beyond the expectation they find a few testimonies to incriminate a target marked as corrupt in advance. The investigative methods have been revealed to be questionable and bolster the impression witnesses were improperly pressured and told what to say, among other things. Such methods are reminiscent of those used in dark regimes that combine propaganda, mass psychology, and disinformation.

It seems every reasonable citizen with the ability to think critically has now come to understand that it is not just the opposition leader who is on trial but senior law enforcement officials who severely damaged Israeli democracy. We will pay for the damage they did for many years to come. When the law enforcement system, out of a Nietzschean desire for power, deals with the elected system and tries to depict it as ignorant, corrupt, and submissive, the result is the public's loss of trust in the judiciary. There cannot be genuine rule of law when the level of trust in the law enforcement system diminishes to an unprecedented low.

Netanyahu therefore did right by the State of Israel when he refused to surrender and decided to fight for his innocence under the difficult conditions set out by a hostile media and tough funding restrictions, and while facing a large army waving false flags. Had he quit, the cases would have likely been closed, and his bitter rivals in the media would have praised his courage. His obstinacy will pay off for all of us and will ultimately lead to the comprehensive and vital repair of the justice system.

In recent days, the question of a plea deal has been brought to the agenda. This is a complicated issue and an agonizing deliberation. We must, however, differentiate between the private and the public realm. In the private realm, all reasonable people understand Netanyahu's chances of receiving a fair trial are slim. A sweeping acquittal on all accounts would be a harsh indictment of the law enforcement and justice systems to which the court belongs. Under these circumstances, it may be better to sign a plea deal that could save a lot of aggravation and years of litigation that could serve as fuel for the slanderous campaign.

Even if he were to decide to sign a plea deal, Netanayahu was right not to agree to do so earlier on. His willingness to come this far has served to expose much of the State Attorney's Office's shame, negligence, and bias. We must accept every decision he makes from this point on.

Yet out of genuine concern for national values and the future of the state and citizens' willingness to respect the law, the trial must go on. The many donors who contributed to Netanyahu's defense campaign, which managed to raise impressive funds in hours, did so in the belief that the law enforcement system needs to be fixed. This is not about charity for Netanyahu. It's about the belief that only he can now lead the struggle to reveal the distortion and fix the justice system.

Otherwise, every other elected official will be at the mercy of the system, which will allow it to govern or shorten its tenure as it sees fit. In this manner, Israeli democracy will be handed over to a small and unelected oligarchy whose senior representatives will always find themselves in cushy positions after concluding their public service roles as Israel's true leaders.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post For the country's sake, Netanyahu trial must go on appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Bennett's government can't do the job

RachelG — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 07:26:26 +0000

The new coalition is incapable of governing and making decisions. Each minister sees their office as a personal empire, and the Islamist parties, whose members are terrorist sympathizers, are holding the entire government hostage.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The only ones who defend the current government are the flatterers in the media who are convinced, and rightfully so, that the coalition is their doing, a work of art they ought to protect fiercely.

However, besides mishandling the pandemic, the government is also causing rift and polarization in Israel. It is strangely preoccupied with disposable tableware and wasting vast amount of public funds on the Norwegian law and the fourth generation of people who feed stray cats, as well as an industry of handing out jobs that wouldn't disgrace the historical socialist governments.

The damage this government causes every single day might turn out to be irreversible.

On my way to Jerusalem on Wednesday, the bus stopped at Raanana junction and I saw about 12 Arab women get on the bus to the Temple Mount. None of them were traveling to the holy site to exercise their right to visit. Their goal was to worship and pray at the site.

In contrast, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett went ahead and declared that Jews had no right to worship on the Temple Mount, only a right to visit. His statement was heard by the whole world, including Muslim extremists and the Palestinian Authority, who picked up on the current government's weakness.

A weak Israeli government is a dream come true for the Palestinians. Bennett and the new coalition are helping their dream of return come true.

Washington is planning to reopen the Palestinian embassy in Jerusalem, which closed in 2019. The repercussions of such a move are obvious to the most simpletons of politicians. Bennett understands this as well. That is why he asked the Biden administration to postpone its opening until the coalition approves a state budget, allowing the failed government to continue to rule.

A weak Israeli government is a dream come true for the Democrats as well, and they will, of course, postpone opening the embassy to help the Israeli government survive.

Only a naive individual would fail to understand that a weak Israeli government will lead to an increase in terrorism, encourage Iran, strengthen the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement and put the security of the Jewish state at risk. And yet the media continues its march of folly.

The longer this government stays in office, the more people will lose sleep, missing the nights they could sleep peacefully, knowing those in charge will be able to respond to threats and make decisions. It is crucial for the Right to arise and the Palestinian-leftist rule to come to an end.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Bennett's government can't do the job appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

No more leniency for white-collar crimes

RachelG — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 08:15:42 +0000

The Tel Aviv District Court's ruling to sentence Faina Kirschenbaum, a former deputy minister for the Yisrael Beytenu party, to 10 years in prison on bribery and money laundering charges constitutes a new level of severity of punishment for such crimes, assuming the matter is not appealed in the Supreme Court.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

For years, judges have been extremely lenient with white-collar offenders.

A clear example of this was the case of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The Tel Aviv District Court sentenced the former prime minister to six years in prison for accepting bribes and obstruction of justice during his terms as mayor of Jerusalem and as trade minister, but the Supreme Court reduced it to only 27 months.

When sentencing Kirschenbaum, Judge Yaron Levy emphasized that her devious and corrupt conduct caused direct harm to people, businesses, associations, her own party, but most importantly, undermined public trust in elected officials.

What does not sit well with me, and surely with many members of the public as well, is that top officials that were involved in the affair along with Kirschenbaum were not investigated at all. The loss of public trust in law enforcement is a danger to the very fabric of society.

While in prison, Kirschenbaum will have plenty of time to reflect on her actions and the atmosphere of corruption that had been created, allowing her to commit such disgusting crimes in the first place.

Let us hope that Kirschenbaum will come to understand the severity of the bribery charges of which she was convicted. No doubt, it will be difficult and even torturous, for 10 years in prison is a long time. Nevertheless, one must think of one's actions before committing illegal acts.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post No more leniency for white-collar crimes appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Don't allow politics to taint Meron disaster inquest

Noga Martin — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 06:35:55 +0000

This past Lag B'Omer a terrible disaster took place at Mount Meron in which 45 adults and children were suffocated and trampled to death and over 150 participants in the event were injured. A night that should have been an expression of pure joy turned into a nightmare. What began with the lighting of a bonfire ended with a huge conflagration.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Reality demands a government investigative committee. Those who are no longer with us cannot be resurrected, but for the sake of preparing for large events in the future, as well as inculcating the basic concept of personal responsibility, a committee is vital. It is also clear that the new government's underlying motive for establishing the committee is political in nature, a type of calculation with which the Israeli public is familiar.

But the bereaved families are entitled to know the full facts that led to their inconceivable grief, and all the country's citizens are entitled to see the issue of responsibility for and institutionalization of large-scale events codified.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut's selection of the committee members entails a combination of sensitivity and wisdom. Miriam Naor, who was named head of the committee, is well-known for her hard work and efficacy; Rabbi Mordechai Karelitz – who hails from the Haredi sector and who has management experience – can give voice to the particular sensitivities of a population that sometimes feels, rightly, that they are accused for every problem; and Maj. Gen. (res.) Shlomo Yanai is well aware of the importance of leaders taking responsibility and orders being followed.

According to law, the investigative committee is not required to conduct itself according to court procedures, which lengthen debates and make them into legal torture. It is crucial that the committee take appropriate, quick action without neglecting to clarify the facts. The committee must submit its recommendations as soon as possible. The sooner that happens, the more effective they will be and the greater its contribution to society will be.

Based on past experience, the media – and the public, on its heels – will focus mainly on the committee's recommendations about individual job-holders. Only a few will consider systemic recommendation, which are more important to preventing future disasters like this one. Everyone involved in the decision-making process that preceded the Meron events must cooperate so the facts can be determined. The government's test isn't in establishing the committee, but its willingness to adopt the committee's recommendations, before they turn into dead ink on the pile of official Israeli committees of inquiry.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Don't allow politics to taint Meron disaster inquest appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Left or Right, we have no other country

RachelG — Fri, 04 Jun 2021 08:40:11 +0000

During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, I commanded incredibly diverse tank crews. Based on modern terminology, some of them could have been described as left-wing: those from kibbutzim, moshavim and from North Tel Aviv, others as right-wing: those who grew up in settlements, or secular and religious Israelis.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The war was unbearable. Many lost close friends, both left- and right-wing. Just like then, so too now, the enemy does not differentiate between us. Its purpose is to wipe the Jewish state off the face of the earth in its entirety. And although we have created a powerful protective iron wall, I am confident we will still need to fight for our fundamental right to live as a free people in our homeland.

We will again need to join hands, both Left and Right, to protect our country. Therefore, even in the heat of a debate within Israeli society, we must keep the boundaries and not destroy the delicate fabric of our society. It certainly should not be unraveled in the name of politics.

Calling left-wingers traitors or right-wingers a primitive herd are two of several dangerous statements that have been made in recent weeks. These undermine the very root of our existence.

Many Israelis feel some politicians betrayed them by putting their personal interests first. Their anger is understandable. They relied on the political campaigns of Yamina leader Naftali Bennett and New Hope head Gideon Sa'ar, and discovered their promises were fake.

It is difficult to come to terms with the fact that a Knesset member might become prime minister with six seats alone, and the only glue that holds the coalition together is the shared hatred of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Who would have thought the day would come when Arab Knesset members who openly support the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas terrorist organization will have a say in whether the Jewish state should go to war or the Negev is abandoned to illegal Bedouin construction.

In any case, the biggest concern is whether Israel will remain a Jewish state or the influence of post-Zionism and post-Judaism will quickly turn it into a state for all the nations. Another worry is that a government led by many factions would need to examine every action from all perspectives until it is incapable of making a decision, at a time that demands a firm hand.

Despite the anger and the pain, the debate must have boundaries. It takes very little to start a fire. Putting it out would require much more effort.

The Balfour protesters have contributed significantly to the contempt in political discourse and abused the right to protest. They have achieved their goal for now. Most likely, a short-lived one. And yet, we should not emulate their behavior.

Is there room for demonstrations, protests and debates? Absolutely. However, let's remember that we have no other country and no other nation. Let's wish for a better day when Israelis will not feel betrayed by politicians who break their campaign promises.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Left or Right, we have no other country appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Lod riots spell unrest in Tel Aviv

Taliah Oz — Fri, 21 May 2021 07:58:46 +0000

Jewish history is one long, never-ending torch race. In every generation, a select group raises the torch, lighting up its surroundings. On Wednesday, I met with young, incredibly brave mothers in Lod's Ramat Eshkol neighborhood who are dealing with the difficult reality that has unfolded in the heart of Israel.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Together with their families, these women are joining the residents of the Gaza Strip periphery area in expressing our hold on our historic homeland. Determined citizens are making clear to the world that "we are here," and no terrorist, missile, or shell will make us move. The 120-year-old struggle to realize the return of Zion has yet to be completed, and the strength of the Israel Defense Forces is the strength of the citizens in the line of fire. Their fortitude is stronger than that of the safe room they run to from time to time.

The Dossa Synagogue was desecrated and burned. Settlers from Judea and Samaria rushed in to help renovate the building. Now, a blackened Star of David at the entrance gate and a burned palm tree in the yard are all that remains of the fire that burned here just a few days ago.

Adjacent to the synagogue is a Jewish apartment situated in a mostly Arab apartment building. Malicious actors put a hole in the wall, entered the Jewish apartment, and burned everything inside. Burned musical instruments, charred toys, and the torn pages of holy books are evidence some savage people are not really people at all.

At the pre-military academy, we meet young people active in the civilian "war room," a lesson learned from the helplessness of the Israel Police in the early days of the violent rioting. I heard serious complaints about the conduct of the police, and the "symmetry" Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai found in his comparison between Arab and Israeli terrorists. This talk of symmetry is a symptom of the syndrome that sees the media have it in for every senior public official accused of being on the Right while treating everyone on the Left with kid gloves.

Within minutes, a community in the Tel Aviv suburb of Raanana collected thousands of shekels for the rehabilitation of the Lod synagogue. A community representative asked me to accompany him on a trip to Lod to bolster Raanana's support for the young people of the mixed Jewish-Arab city.

Rabbis and public figures came to Lod in a show of support for these marvelous young families. I was impressed by the many Border Police forces in the neighborhood to protect worried residents. The settlers of Tel Aviv need to be reminded that Lod's Jewish residents are not settlers. These are good citizens who want to realize state sovereignty in their territory. Everyone should know that if we cannot live in absolute security in Lod, there will not be calm in Tel Aviv's upscale Ramat Aviv neighborhood – formerly Sheikh Munis, or Ramat Hasharon – formerly Abu Kishk. If Jewish families, fearing for their lives, are forced to leave Lod, evacuations will also take place in Ramle, Jaffa, Haifa, among others.

Ever since the 1967 Six-Day War, members of the Left have tried to convince us that the struggle is over the 1967 borders. The events of recent weeks have shown us that that the struggle is over the 1948 lines, meaning the Jewish state's very existence. All of the state's citizens should be partners in this struggle. We are all obligated to show our support for residents of the Gaza periphery area, the same as we are with the residents of Lod, Ashkelon, and Tel Aviv. Strength from unity is the only thing that will make it clear to our neighbors, both near and far, that we are here for an eternity, and they would be better off living alongside us in peace than sustaining the harsh blows of our security forces.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Lod riots spell unrest in Tel Aviv appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Leave it to the Left. Or not

Sharon Gilad — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 04:33:25 +0000

Many Israelis are distressed by the recent political events. MKs moving from one party to the next, parties zigzagging across the political spectrum, and party leaders who garnered merely six or seven seats in the elections making a claim to the Prime Minister's Office by exploiting the bizarre political reality as they race to head the most complex state in the world.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The artificial connection between Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz, and Labor leader Merav Michaeli could lead to the formation of an amateurishly tailored government.

However, Israel, with the myriad of challenges it faces, cannot afford to have a government led by a group of amateurs whose only common goal is the burning desire to see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leave office. Only a fool will believe that a government united in hatred will bring reconciliation and unification.

There is no path, no values, no vision, no truth – everything is personal. This is the type of politics that evokes revulsion to the point of indifference and causes the public to lose faith in the democratic process. And it is this type of disgust that prompts a brain drain and a decrease in motivation to serve in the IDF.

The behavior of Lieberman, Sa'ar and to some extent Bennett, is the current expression of the path's loss.

There are several versions as to whether Bennett was privy to the ploy exercise by Lapid and Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas, and whether he sided with Likud only after he learned the plan could go ahead without Yamina. It is for Bennett to prove that this was not a political scheme on his part.

I can only hope that down the road, Bennett will prove he remains part of the right-wing bloc and that he has no plans to make a beeline for a deal with Lapid. There is no doubt that if Bennett wants to be prime minister he has to remain part of the Right. If he doesn't, he's looking at only a short stint in office.

Right-wing voters would do well to remember how, in 1992, the Tehiya party, together with fragments of other parties, toppled the Right-led government and handed power to the Left – something that resulted in the Oslo disaster.

Many of us recognize the falsehood at the heart of the phrase "I will navigate" that was coined by then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin ahead of Oslo. If Sa'ar and Bennett think they will be able to manipulate the heads of the left-wing parties, they are daydreaming.

The people of Israel are not wary of a long winding road. The majority of the Jewish public in Israel identifies with the values of the Right and for them, Horowitz and education minister, Michaeli as justice minister, Lapid as prime minister and Gantz as finance minister is nothing short of a nightmare.

I have no doubt that if the right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties join forces, they will be able to retain the country's leadership. Most Israelis have already understood Lapid is unfit to be prime minister.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Leave it to the Left. Or not appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Everything is personal

Taliah Oz — Sun, 18 Apr 2021 08:11:26 +0000

In the battle between left-wing propagandists in the media and the citizens' wisdom ahead of the last election, wisdom overcame the sophisticated system of fraud. A majority of media outlets enlisted in what they saw as a sacred effort to oust Benjamin Netanyahu from the Prime Minister's Office and transfer power to the sinking Left.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

In the battle, journalistic principles of ethics, integrity, and trustworthiness were cast aside. Facts were distorted, biased commentary was used to brainwash, and news and opinions were jumbled together. From early in the morning till late at night, political spin doctors tried but failed in their efforts. Many in the public quickly understood the attempts to lead them astray and recognized the efforts at consciousness engineering presented by biased polls. They had their say at the voting booths. All candidates who declared they were running for the premiership and were treated with kid gloves by the media earned Knesset seats in the single digits. The only reason Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid earned seats in the double-digits was because he listened to the guidance he was given and did not present himself as a candidate for the premiership. The Netanyahu-led Likud earned the highest number of seats, and millions of citizens, including those from other parties, saw him as the best suited for the role of premier.

One might have expected that following the publication of the election results, the media stars would line up and apologize for their attempts to meddle in an election campaign in the hope of ushering in regime change. That expectation was overblown. No revenge can compare to the revenge sought out by a journalist that has erred. As they see it, the elections aren't over. The cynicism, hypocrisy, and incitement are continuing in full force. Among those being lashed by the stars of the Left are journalists on the Right. Left-wing reporters are enlightened, advanced, and liberal, while reporters identified with the Right are Bibi supporters, primitive, Mizrahim, members of the periphery, and slaves to a cult of personality, they say. The cynics in the media who speak of coming together to heal are the forefathers of division, incitement, and polarization.

Unfortunately, in recent days, journalists supposedly aligned with the Right have joined the media's left-wing propagandists. Some propose that, in the name of unity, the Right be willing to join the opposition. Others claim Netanyahu isn't right-wing at all and is in fact responsible for the country's current political traffic jam. One can respect their opinions, but the timing is off. Perhaps they are simply jealous of their friends and would like to receive the media's stamp of approval for their support for pluralism and progress. Indeed, the elections forged a complicated political reality. There is no vision, no logic. Everything is personal. Parties that ahead of the elections presented themselves as more Right than the Right are now basing their decisions on hatred and prejudice. The Right's mechanism for self-destruction, the same mechanism that brought us the damned Oslo Accords, is infamous.

Now every political party head wants to position themselves as a kingmaker, or at the very least, put the blame for the lack of a right-wing government on someone else. It's a shame Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich, who is not naïve, is willing to allow the establishment of a right-wing government. He may very well have an interest in Yamina head Naftali Bennett going with the Left so that he himself becomes the leader of the religious-Zionist public. Lest Smotrich forgets, were it not for efforts by members of Likud, he would never have passed the electoral threshold to begin with. Elected officials from the Right must make every effort and rise above personal considerations to allow for the establishment of a right-wing government. Those who allow the path to a left-wing government to be paved will need to be able to justify their actions to their voters and offer their heartfelt apologies while they're at it.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Everything is personal appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

This professor is not worthy of public esteem

Noga Martin — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 05:41:11 +0000

The ruling by the High Court of Justice on Thursday that the Israel Prize can be withheld from Professor Oded Goldreich until it can be clarified whether or not his political stances violate laws against boycotting Israel is an important one that shows a different side of the High Court.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The education minister is supposed to clarify the matter within 30 days, but it can still be hoped that Professor Goldreich will demonstrate integrity and follow in the footsteps of the late Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz, who decided to forgo the prize. This would allow Goldreich to, as he put it, "avoid the pain of shaking hands with two slimebags – the prime minister and the education minister, who does his bidding." If that is how a candidate for the Israel Prize expresses himself, and this is the personal example he chooses to represent, we shouldn't wonder at the slanderous slogans being shouted at the anti-Netanyahu demonstrations.

Education Minister Yoav Gallant did well to not allow Goldreich's remarks, in which he calls for a boycott and has reached out to foreign and hostile entities on the matter, to be ignored.

I am not an expert in the field of cryptography and computational complexity theory, but I accept the Israel Prize committee's decision that Goldreich is a world-renowned expert.

The Israel Prize is awarded for excellence and for achievements in the fields of science and humanities, as well as for life achievement. No one disputes that this is the most prestigious award granted by the nation and its citizens. This is why it is called the "Israel Prize." But scientific excellence is not the only aspect of it. The prize is also an expression of appreciation for unique individuals who can serve as role models and inspiration. As scientist, talented as he might be, who signs a petition calling on the European Union to boycott academic cooperation with Ariel University – thereby working against academic institutions in the country in which he lives as a citizen, and attempting to harm the thousands of students who study there – is not worth of the recognition by Israeli society that the Israel Prize confers.

There is no doubt that the law allows candidates for the prize to be evaluated beyond their professional achievements. Professional success, no matter how impressive, cannot justify awarded the prize to someone who calls for a boycott against Israel, which is fighting a war on BDS and the motives that inspire the movement. Anyone who, at a time like this, supports an organization or movement like this is unworthy of the esteem of Israel's citizens. Professor Goldreich has received and will receive important academic awards, but the Israel Prize is not only for academics, it is also an expression of the public's appreciation, something that I believe Goldreich does not deserve.

The panel of judges that discussed the petition honored the High Court institution, and contributed to unity in Israeli society.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post This professor is not worthy of public esteem appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The Left's new favorite target

ErezL — Thu, 25 Mar 2021 14:25:09 +0000

It's unclear what the final makeup of the 24th Knesset will look like. If the Right gets control, it will soon get widespread support for a broad coalition because not a single MK would like to hold yet another early election. I have a hard time seeing Blue and White leader Benny Gantz being content with heading some Knesset committee, for example, rather than keeping some ministerial portfolio in the cabinet. Gideon Sa'ar may in this case also decide it is time to throw in the towel and leave politics.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Despite this uncertainty, we can already draw some insights from the election. Likud is the biggest Knesset faction, and by a large margin over the second-biggest faction, Yest Atid. This attests to its successful showing against the coalition of interests, hatred and incendiary rhetoric of unprecedented proportions. Many people have realized that the animosity was just over the top and decided to cast their votes against it, making it clear to the elitist Left – in the judiciary, academia and the media – that they won't let such vitriol win.

Their vote was also a rejection of the attempt to brainwash them and engineer their perception. Israelis cast their lack of confidence in the media and the fake pundits. Let's hope that the media, for the sake of Israeli democracy, internalizes this and draws the right conclusions by halting its incitement and letting Israelis embrace the vote's outcome.

Many Israelis made it clear to the world that we are now back in our homeland after 2,000 years of exile and no one in the world can make the state of the Jews act against its interests. Many Israelis voiced a clear desire to see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu head a right-wing, responsible, and cohesive government that would pursue the vision of a Jewish national home rather than have Israel become detached from its Jewish heritage and traditions.

The religious Zionist parties managed to pull off a surprise showing. In fact, during Election Day, I got to hear several secular Israelis say they will vote for the Religious Zionists because they felt Judaism was at the heart of the return to Zion.

I sure hope that they join the coalition and make our country follow the path envisioned by the prophets in the Bible.

The success of the Arab party Ra'am is a good development. For the first time since the state's founding, voters of a party in the Arab sector showed that they are well aware of the price they had been paying for the association of their leadership with the Palestinian Authority and terrorist groups it funds. Missiles from Gaza and Lebanon, after all, may hurt the Bedouine towns just as much as they can cause harm in Jewish communities.

The main left-wing media outlets have already begun their campaign to delegitimize Ra'am by casting it as a party of terrorist sympathizers. They have never done that when the Center-Left explored the possibility of joining forces with the Joint Arab List, whose radical agenda is well known to all.

This is pure hypocrisy. If Ra'am, unlike the Joint Arab List, agrees to abandon any effort to undo the Jewish character of the state and focuses instead on civil rights, there is a real possibility of partnering with it and having real co-existence.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post The Left's new favorite target appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.