Voting in Israel is Like Watching Cable TV

I can never understand right-wing people who vote for Naftali Bennett. I mean, even if I could forgive him for joining forces with Yair Lapid that time, how can someone with a plan for ceding land at all be considered right wing? And how can a vote for Bennett be anything but a betrayal of my deepest beliefs about the land?

I totally understand right-wing people who vote for Naftali Bennett. He’s got Ayelet Shaked on his list, and she’s done amazing things to reform Israel’s justice system. He’s got fiery right-wing columnist Caroline Glick onboard. Would Glick throw her lot in with Bennett if she thought he were going to give away my grandchildren’s land?

I can never understand right-wing people who vote for Moshe Feiglin. He says all the right things, but he doesn’t have the personality to get the votes. He lacks leadership charisma—he’s not a statesman. These things will never change and Feiglin will never have the power to do anything he talks about. A vote for Feiglin is a throwaway vote.

I totally understand right-wing people who vote for Moshe Feiglin. He’s uncompromising in his right-wing views. He doesn’t say one thing and do another. He says and does all the right things.

I can never understand right-wing people who vote for Bibi. Bibi talked reciprocity then gave away Hebron. He left the government over Disengagement, then voted in favor of it, four times. 

Bibi denounced Oslo then gave a speech touting the failed two-state solution.

He’s the head of the Likud, the “Greater Israel” party, but caved to pressure from Obama and froze building in Judea and Samaria. Bibi wrote a bookabout not caving in to terror, then released thousands of terrorists. He set up a commission to examine the legal status of Judea and Samaria, then failed to act on the recommendations of that committee. He apologized to Erdogan for the Mavi Marmara incident, a breach of Israel’s legal maritime blockade by Turks that left IDF soldiers with serious injuries. Bibi, from my purview, masquerades as the leader of the right, while effecting left-wing policy.

I totally understand people who vote for Bibi. He’s the only Israeli leader alive with true leadership skills. He’s a great orator and a genius. 

He’s the grand master of the chess board that is Israel. Were anyone else to take over, Israel would descend into chaos.

I can never understand right-wing people who don’t vote. If you don’t vote, how will you ever change things or be a force for good in Israeli society?

I totally understand right-wing people who don’t vote. They’ve given up. They figure that anyone they vote for either can’t get enough votes to rise to power, or if they do, they won’t really be right-wing once they get into office.

Voting in Israel is a lot like watching cable TV: 1000 television channels but there’s nothing to watch.