I am unimpressed with “the best of the worst” options out there. I have scoured their platforms, and they have nothing to say to me. If the Left can speak of “territorial concession” and the future transfer of Jews under the grotesque euphemism “evacuation”, why is there no strong Jewish voice addressing the transfer of Arabs? At the very least they should commit to legalize the voice of disenfranchised Jews. They speak of the Temple Mount but not of the necessity of transferring the mosques. Of course this would be political suicide, so they avoid these issues. I’d rather support a candidate who speaks truthfully at the cost of his political life, rather than one who compromises and joins with ill-fitting pieces to enter the door. Better a conscience and no seats.
I’m tired of people telling me that I must vote, that I have an obligation to pick the proverbial “lesser of the evils” or else I am aiding the Leftists’ takeover. I disagree. The best of the worst is no way for a religious Jew to vote. The mainstream right-wing is as dangerous in the long haul as the classical left. I would like to vote. I have been disenfranchised.
Many are touting Bayit Yehudi and Naftali Bennett as the savior. I refer to him as a “flavor of the month” but this fails to truly capture what he represents. Bennett may have many fine qualities, but he has no place leading the nation. Bennett is the choice for the pragmatic, respectable, weak-kneed loyalist, religious “right-winger”. Consider his positions:
* During the height of the Arab violence of several months back, Bennett cited a fraudulent statistic which maintained that 99.9% of Israeli Arabs support the state of Israel. A false assertion which propagates the dangerous myth that we can live peacefully with Arabs. Any man who would utter such lies is unfit to lead.
* Those who cite him as “right-wing” on the issue of land, should consider what a future deal with the Arabs might look like according to Bennett’s aspirations. In his May 20, 2014 opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, “A New Plan for Peace in Palestine”, Bennett presented an Arab autonomy plan which bears shocking similarity to Arafat’s phased plan. Some of the nuggets found throughout the article include the following:
“Palestinians living in certain portions of the West Bank (known as Area A and Area B) should govern themselves. They should hold their own elections, run their own schools, issue their own building permits and manage their own health-care system. In short, they should run their own lives. Israel should not interfere in day-to-day governance.
To achieve this, Israel must allow Palestinians complete freedom of movement, which requires removing all roadblocks and checkpoints in the West Bank. In particular, Israel should dismantle the security barrier erected throughout the last decade to defend against Palestinian terror attacks during the Second Intifada.”
Right-wing enough for you? Kind of sounds like a younger Bibi.
Others are touting the Yachad coalition which was stitched together helter skelter from many strange components. They too have nothing to say to me. With all due respect to Baruch Marzel, he’s no Kahane. Rabbi Kahane never compromised on any major position to obtain a seat. Had he done so, he could have received a Knesset seat years before he did. Better to retain ideological purity and fight the good fight.
When the leaders of Labor and Likud joined forces many years ago to ban the Kach, Rabbi Kahane’s supporters asked him who they should vote for as “the next best option”. His response: NEITHER. “Zu n’veilah, v’zu treifah”. Don’t play the game. Whether a cow carcass on the road, or a cow (or pig) slaughtered with a curved obsidian knife, both remain non-kosher. The options are to “die now or die tomorrow”. In the context of today’s challenges, neither Likud (whatever the nature of its ultimate constitution) nor Labor will: