Every election is important to the future of the state and Israeli society. The upcoming election, which has been forced on the country once again, is of particular importance. Yisrael Beytenu party chief Avigdor Lieberman, for reasons that will become clear and that have nothing to do with ideological concerns but are rather personal in nature, decided to harm the right-wing rule.
For years, the right-wing government has led Israel to extraordinary achievements in numerous fields, and it has done so at a time when new and interesting channels for the struggle against the Iranian threat and the promotion of agreements with Arab countries in our region are opening.
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This time around, the election is not over the question of whether Israel is democratic. Outside of old-new political star and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and a few members of the Blue and White party, no one doubts Israel is a substantive democracy. Israel is one of the only countries in the world in which it is the majority that more often than not needs defending from a minority that tries to dictate its way of life and worldview.
The questions now being put to the test are: Is Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people? Have we returned to the historic homeland after 2,000 years of exile in order to establish another San Francisco on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea? Are we occupiers who need to return to the 1967 borders and ignore the fact that the real battle is actually over Israel's very existence?
A vast majority of the public prefers the Right's answers to these questions.
It is truly a shame that at such a crucial time, the Right's mechanism of self-destruction, the one we are so familiar with from years past, has once again sprung into action. This unique and strange mechanism is the only thing that can bring the Left to power and bring us back to the difficult days after the 1993 Oslo Accords. Yes, it is this and only this that can give the Palestinians a sense of victory, one that could strengthen their desire to harm all of Israel's citizens, whether in Tel Aviv or Judea and Samaria.
Should they join forces, right-wing parties have an excellent chance of garnering a fair amount of Knesset seats in the election, but it seems some leaders on the Right have let their egos take the wheel. This is a hostile takeover, which shifts the debate from issues of ethics to one that focuses on personalities. At times like these, it is important to push personal considerations aside. Every one of the people involved, including those who failed in the last election and caused the loss of hundreds of thousands of votes, must rise above themselves and allow for a joint run by the parties on the right. Lovers of Israel do not have the privilege of once again causing the Right to lose precious votes.
My advice to the heads of the new and old right-wing parties: Don't believe the polls, which reflect the respondents' wishes more than they do reality.
It is also very important the Likud party act responsibly and not try to take votes from other right-wing parties. A demand for unity on the Right is inconsistent with an attempt to steal votes.
The great leader Moses was the humblest of men. It's times like these when what we urgently need is humility in leadership.
