Herzog and Netanyahu. 'Vote for someone sane, for someone who will finally bring normalcy back'
Photo: Reuters
Vote for the person you believe
Op-ed: When Israelis cast their ballots, they should elect a leader who doesn't make them feel uneasy when he speaks, who doesn’t always look for someone to lay the blame on, who doesn’t embarrass them in front of the world.
It's hard to assess the impact of Tzipi Livni's decision to waive the rotating premiership agreement.
That's possible, but the message conveyed to the public is much more complicated. It points to a great fear in the party, which only three days ago recorded a four-seat gap over the Likud, and on Monday it turned out that the gap has been narrowed to the point of a tie.
Livni, who was ill on Monday, telephoned Isaac Herzog in the afternoon and told him: I suggest that we release a statement clarifying that the rotation will not serve as an obstacle to the establishment of a government. Herzog said to her, as he always does, "You're the best." In a conversation with other people, he added that the move – which was completely initiated by Livni – points to nobility and courage.
War Hero:
Amnon Reshef
Op-ed: The PM's failures have caused significant damage to Israel on security, Iran, peace talks and the economy.
Had the statement been released a week ago, it would have given the party enough time to explain the move to the public and would have given the public enough time to internalize it. But when such a decision is announced 12 hours before the polling stations open, it could be perceived as a move driven by stress.
Netanyahu and Herzog cast their ballots (Photos: Marc Israel Sellem, Motti Kimchi)
Stress isn't necessarily a bad thing. Stress is exactly what made the Likud wake up from its sleep and work to change the picture. To be more exact, we're talking about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stress. Since Friday, he hasn't spared any effort to move voters to the Likud from other right-wing parties, like Yisrael Beytenu and Bayit Yehudi. If Yisrael Beytenu finds itself outside the Knesset on Tuesday night, Avigdor Lieberman will have a score to settle with Netanyahu.
Don’t be confused: The spillover of voters to the Likud doesn’t change the right-wing bloc's situation. It's like the same amount of water being poured into a few glasses. When the Likud's glass fills up, it empties Bennett and Lieberman's glasses, but the overall amount of water doesn’t change. Netanyahu's "help!" moves haven't shifted even a quarter of a vote from the other camp, and have likely not caused Moshe Kahlon's voters to return to the Likud.
Just like Livni's move won't give Herzog more Knesset seats at the other camp's expense. He will gain – or lose – only at Yair Lapid or Meretz's expense.
But the problem right now is not the bloc's size. The war is over the party's size. When the elections end, President Reuven Rivlin will try to convince Netanyahu and Herzog to create a national unity government. If he fails, he will have to task one of them with forming a government. If Herzog reaches a significant gap in the number of Knesset seats between the Zionist Union and the Likud, Rivlin will be able to task him – even gladly, I might say – with building a coalition. But the gap amounts to only one or two seats, not to mention a gap in favor of Netanyahu, he will have no choice but to task Netanyahu – who anyway has a higher chance of forming a coalition – with that mission.
So when we vote today, the question each person who wants to replace the government should ask himself is whether his vote is only strengthening the left-wing bloc, or actually helping the Zionist Union increase its gap from the Likud, raising the chance for a change. That's the only question.
Because whoever wants to bring about a change, whoever thinks that our international situation has never been worse, that our economic situation is going from bad to worse and that there is only one thing that could be worse than a Netanyahu government – and that's a Likud-rightist-haredi government, whoever thinks that after nine years of being ruled by the Netanyahu family, it's time to replace him – will vote for the Zionist Union.
On Monday evening, I heard the prime minister being interviewed on Israel Radio. It was an interview filled with half lies, eye rolling, unfounded slurs and flattery directed at the right-wing voters. He was asked who would be the first person he would call if he won. Even through the radio, one could notice that Netanyahu didn't even blink: Miriam Peretz, he said, referring to the bereaved mother who lost two of her sons.
So here's another proposal for those who are finding it difficult to decide who to vote for: Vote for a person you believe. A person who doesn't make you shift in your seat uneasily when you hear him speak, a person whose falsehood doesn’t stand out, a person who doesn’t make you look for lies. A person who doesn’t always look for someone to lay the blame on. A person whose conduct you are not ashamed of, a person who doesn’t embarrass you in front of the world. Vote for a person who you feel is there for you, not for himself or for his family.
Vote for someone sane. Vote for someone who will finally bring normalcy back into our lives.
