In Honor of the Million Who Are Mistaken
Two million people did not vote in the previous elections. If they had, the government of the October 7 massacre would not have come to power. In the upcoming elections, they must learn their lesson.
'In honor of a billion billion who are mistaken, who are still looking for their way,' sings Aviv Geffen. Later in the song there is another interesting line: 'In honor of one tired man.' With only an associative connection to Geffen's words, this article is dedicated to those same millions who are mistaken — to about two million citizens who did not bother to leave their homes for a few minutes and vote in the previous elections in November 2022. Because of them, we received the government of the October 7 massacre, a government that, for the sake of the survival of the person at its head, lost its brakes and its shame, and endangers our lives and the continued existence of the state. They gave Benjamin Netanyahu the license to destroy. If they had voted, Benjamin Netanyahu would not have been elected, and we would have avoided the government of malice that received a 'golden share' and trampled it into the dust.
It will take many years to fix, if at all, the injustices and dangers to which Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition partners are leading us, both within the State of Israel and regarding the trampling of Israel's name and image in the world, as well as Israel's relations with the USA and many other countries. The connection between the 'one tired man' that Aviv Geffen sings about and Benjamin Netanyahu does not exist, because Netanyahu — in everything related to the war that seems most important to him, the war of preserving his rule and his chair — is a determined, creative person who does not relate to any obstacle in the way.
I wish he were tired, I wish he would go to the president, bow his head, ask for a pardon, and perhaps forgiveness from the bereaved families, from the hostages who could probably have returned many months before Donald Trump saved their lives, from the families of the hostages, from the wounded, from the rape victims, from the reservists, from the IDF soldiers and security forces, from Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, and from the entire people of Israel. I wish he would go this way to his home, ridding us of his trouble. I am convinced that President Isaac Herzog would grant him the pardon if it were submitted properly, subject of course to his resignation.
I will admit, I have no complaints against the coalition partners even though Goldknopf, Deri, and Gafni behave in a swinish way that is legal but outrageous, and speculate on Judaism without a gram of shame. What they promised their voters, they fulfill. There is one culprit in this whole story, and it is the father who allows the children to run wild: Benjamin Netanyahu. This time we all must vote, and then there is no doubt that Benjamin Netanyahu will go home and a Zionist, liberal government will be established here, which will work only for the citizens and the state.
In recent days, an exemplary organization of thousands of Israelis who do not live in Israel has begun; they are buying flight tickets and organizing hundreds of flights at their own expense to arrive in the country and vote. The Prime Minister is A-F-R-A-I-D, and therefore we have started to hear about an intention to reduce the possibilities of their arrival. I do not know who the next Prime Minister will be. At the moment, Gadi Eisenkot is leading in the polls and he is a great man, but just as we would not allow our children to get on a bus with a new and inexperienced driver just because he is human and nice, I think the next Prime Minister cannot be a person lacking administrative experience who tends to the left and is willing to include Shas in his government. Being Chief of Staff is not being Prime Minister. We have already seen Chiefs of Staff who did not succeed well in political life, and the most prominent example is Benny Gantz. The next Prime Minister must be a strong person, experienced administratively and politically, and it is likely that it will be a right-wing, liberal, and pragmatic person. It will be one of the following four: Benjamin Netanyahu, Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, or Avigdor Lieberman. Each of the last three is preferable to Benjamin Netanyahu. Do not be a million who are mistaken again. Go out and vote.
Mimi Par is a strategic consultant, author of the book 'Fly on the Wall'.
