The in-fighting and boycotts among the right-wing camp may cancel out the huge lead that the right enjoys among the public. Only if the right rallies massively at the ballot box will these elections culminate in a right-wing government
The in-fighting and boycotts among the right-wing camp may cancel out the huge lead that the right enjoys among the public. Only if the right rallies massively on Election Day to vote for the right will these elections actually culminate in a right-wing government.
With just a few days to go before the election, right-wing voters must decide how to vote based on simple, cold and sometimes disheartening mathematical calculations.
The right-wing camp enjoys a huge majority among the Israeli public, a fact that is indicative of the Israeli people’s national health. An overwhelming majority of the Israeli public holds right-wing views and favors firmly holding on to and declaring sovereignty over the land of Israel, is connected to Jewish tradition and supports necessary emendations to the justice system. The vast majority of the Israeli public votes for the right and wants to see its leaders leading Israel and its people in this spirit.
In a fair and logical political reality, this majority of 70-80 Knesset seats would be reflected in the establishment of a broad and solid right-wing government capable of resisting international pressure and advancing a healthy, Zionist national agenda. Unfortunately, it turns out that our political reality works differently.
In our political reality, notwithstanding the large right-wing majority among the public, if a right-wing government is even formed, it will have a slim majority of but one or two Knesset seats, and even that, only following arduous and complex negotiations. The reason for this is the profusion of reciprocal boycotts and public attestations on the part of certain right-wing leaders that refuse to sit with one another in the same government. Whatever the reason – personal animosity, political actions or ideological differences – these boycotts will inevitably cause a genuine difficulty in achieving a right-wing government that has at least 61 Knesset seats.
This behavior on the part of leaders in the right-wing camp may ultimately lead to a very unfortunate outcome with the establishment of a patchwork government made up of both right- and left-wing parties, the results of which would be a disaster for the country. Right-wing leaders would apparently prefer to share a government with distinctly left-wing parties that support dividing the land, harming Israel’s Jewish identity and the family unit, a government actually run by civil servants and the judiciary – as long as they don’t have to sit around the same table with those who until recently were their partners in the right wing and right-wing governments.
In this bleak reality, everything is turned upside down. Instead of the leadership being the responsible adult, right-wing voters must take on this role and by voting massively, prevent the establishment of a government made up of right and left together that lacks any ideological backbone, a government that does not represent the will of the people.
Confused voices on the fringes of the right-wing camp relate to the upcoming elections with an indifference that is based on a feeling that the right is in any case guaranteed a majority of 70-80 Knesset seats. But this majority is misleading; it is a majority that does not really exist and not because of the voters, but rather because of the behavior of the leaders. If the indifference increases and too many right-wing voters don’t go out to vote, a government in which the left’s power greatly outweighs that of the right will be formed. A government like that will not only be unable to advance a right-wing agenda, but can be expected to fold and retreat under the barrage of pressure that will likely come from Europe and Biden’s White House.
The dangerous indifference that has started to take root in the right-wing camp has caused the left to resurge with renewed energy. This can be seen in their aggressive campaigns to take to the streets and make a difference on Election Day, to rally to the polls to vote in large numbers and take advantage of an opportunity to finally obliterate the right and once again position the left’s agenda at the center of Israel’s political and diplomatic arena.
This mobilization of the left can have a considerable impact in view of the threshold needed for a party to get into the Knesset, which is expected to be much higher than in the past because there are no flights and a larger voter turnout is expected. We must have a 100% right-wing turnout on Election Day in order to achieve a right-wing government of 61-62 seats. Although such a government may not properly reflect the right-wing majority among the people, it will be able to prevent a return to the dangerous political ideas of the left in the spirit of the Oslo agreements.