An Open Letter to Lieberman: Isn't It Time to Recalculate the Route? | Yossi Achimeir

Avigdor, greetings. Allow me first to send through you condolences to all the residents of Nokdim, of which you are one, following the fall in southern Lebanon of a resident of the settlement, Major Harel Birenstock, of blessed memory. May his memory be cherished and blessed among the heroes of Israel who rushed to the aid of the people and fell in defense of the homeland.

We have known each other for a long time. Our meetings are rare. When we meet by chance, you immediately blurt out to me with a smile "Tel Hai!", knowing my connection to the legacy of Ze'ev Jabotinsky. You make sure to point out that you are more familiar with this legacy than the people of the Likud. I am always happy when you mention Jabotinsky, and even sometimes take pictures when his portrait is behind your back.

When you were Minister of Transport, you once sent me a thank-you letter following my article in the journal "HaUma" about the Kishinev pogrom, and wrote: "The incessant attempt throughout the generations to destroy the Jewish people emphasizes the vital need to strengthen the bond between parts of the Jewish people around the world and teaches about the historical role of the State of Israel as a national home for the Jewish people and as the state of the Jewish public wherever it may be."

Not once, in conversations with friends, when someone would label you a "Soviet agent", I would silence him. Lieberman? He is a true Zionist, a right-winger who grew from the bottom. From a student and security guard, he became one of the prominent politicians who filled a series of top-tier ministerial roles. Only one role you have yet to fill, and to it you aspire with all your might: the Prime Ministership. For this, you are currently, on the eve of the 26th Knesset elections, intensifying your smears against Netanyahu and his government, striving to ensure that you will be the candidate of the opposition parties for the high office. Will this really happen? Will your life's ambition be fulfilled on October 27? Highly doubtful.

Today you no longer rely only on the "Russian" vote, and the list you are assembling is no longer composed only of candidates from the former Soviet Union. You are appealing to a wider public, especially those disappointed with the Likud. And here, with all the appreciation for your political growth and your rise in public consciousness, in the polls you are not rising. In all of them, you win eight to ten mandates, and this despite the fact that you have become a media darling.

I think there is no other political figure besides you who receives so many interviews and appearances, as well as articles and sympathetic references. Your figure is often seen on screens, your opinions are heard from every platform and in every media outlet. So how is it that you are treading water in the polls, and "Yisrael Beiteinu" is not the largest in the bloc? How is it that you insist on being the candidate for Prime Minister? It is true that we have already had such a delusion — a Prime Minister who headed a party of only six mandates — but it is doubtful that your rivals-partners will yield to you on this issue. The lust for power of Eisenkot and Bennett is no less than yours.

Although you are, as you claim, more right-wing than the Likud and the right-wingers in the opposition, the public does not know what your firm opinions actually are. They hear things and their opposite from you. They receive one promise or another from you and do not see its fulfillment. On one issue you are consistent: the obsession to topple Netanyahu, your sworn enemy. There is no day, no speech, in which you do not revile and curse him, as if in a blunt attack will be your salvation. You hurl harsh accusations at him, "selling the country's security" for personal-family interests. You wish him to "suffer hell", warn that he is leading us to "doom" and other such insults that are not appropriate to mention. It is a pity that they came out of your mouth. It is a pity that statesmanship is not your hallmark.

I agree with you on the issue of the Draft Law and the Deserters Law, but there is no place in the multi-faceted Israeli society for the absolute rejection of the Haredi public, which almost borders on antisemitism. Your terrible statement ("load them on a wheelbarrow and straight to the dump") will forever remain etched as a mark of shame upon you. If the good of the country is truly before your eyes, if you truly reject Yair Golan and his intention to evacuate you, if only he gets the chance, from your settlement of Nokdim, and if you stand by your commitment not to sit in a government supported by Arabs — isn't it time to recalculate the route? To become a future partner in a national-centrist government composed of the Likud (with or without Netanyahu) and Eisenkot? You will not be Prime Minister, but your sincere concern for the country and the integrity of the homeland may outweigh the personal calculation that will not lead you anywhere.