Don't stay at home. You, who believe the State of Israel is first and foremost the national home of the Jewish people, rather than a country of all its citizens; you, the Likudniks who in April 2019 cast your ballots yet voted with your feet in September – who are now fed up and angry, or apathetic and exasperated – need to know that another refusal to vote is more than just a protest. It is also a vote for people and things you do not want: A government that is dependent on Knesset members who favor terror and deny the Jewish state.
No party or leader represents their constituents' specific preferences, and an election is not a personal request plan. It is a choice between the "lesser of two evils," for "more or less" the right candidate. Skipping another election will enhance the relative clout of the Joint Arab List, the overt/covert partner of the Labor-Gesher-Meretz faction and Blue and White, not to mention the influence of Avigdor Lieberman, who has shed all his masks to reveal he is inclined to join the Left.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
If the hundreds of thousands of people who in April voted for Likud, Kulanu, the New Right and Zehut stay at home on Monday – they will actively help bolster people such as Ram Ben Barak, who promised to remove the word "Jewish" from the nation-state law, or Yair Lapid, who compared terrorist-supporting Hiba Yazbek to Education Minister Rafi Peretz, a former air force pilot and IDF chief rabbi, who was expelled from Gush Katif in Gaza and went on to make the Negev bloom.
Failing to vote yet again could cost Israel a historic opportunity to determine its eastern border and apply sovereignty over all the communities in Judea and Samaria. Benny Gantz and his Blue and White party won't do this without widespread international support. In other words, they won't do it.
It's mathematically impossible for Gantz to form a government without leaning on the Joint Arab List, which doesn't recognize Israel as a Jewish state and whose members empathize with Palestinian terror and identify with some of its objectives.
The potential dependency on the Joint List is intolerable in terms of Zionism and our security. It could lead to the veto of military operations in Gaza. It could lead to the reintroduction of the Palestinian narrative in schools; and it could also ultimately quash the much-needed reforms to the legal system and High Court of Justice, spearheaded by former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.
On Election Day, members of the "abstention party" need to remember the disastrous Oslo Accords, the disengagement from Gaza that brought us the state of Hamastan, and the damage the Ehud Barak government caused by agreeing to divide Jerusalem. It could all come back.
Not voting will increase the relative weight of the left-wing parties, and increase the likelihood of additional irresponsible diplomatic adventures. So even if Netanyahu and the parties in his right-wing bloc aren't your cup of tea – don't stay home. Abstaining – particularly this time – is a de facto vote for the rival political camp.
