Ma’ariv, Israel, February 22
The panic stemming from the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem about the “rise of the left” is absolutely ridiculous. It is shocking that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu managed to convince everyone around him in the alternative truth he has created in his mind only to detract attention away from the investigations he is facing. Sadly, there is not a single righteous person in his party who will dare stand up and call out this illusion. Fear of the leader crippled everyone in the prime minister’s immediate surrounding. Once Netanyahu falls, these individuals will have to look the public in the eye and explain why they were silent. Until not very long ago, actions like those taken by Netanyahu last week would have sent the Israeli political establishment into shock. Reserving a seat in the Likud’s list for a radical political activist only to have that individual resign and return to his original party after the election is simply unheard of. It is political manipulation of the cheapest kind. However, it is also important to remember the following: Those who condemn radical voices on the right cannot condone radical voices on the left. We cannot allow extremist opinions coming from Arab parties to be voiced in the Knesset while banning similarly radical opinions coming from far-right Jewish groups. We must be consistent in what we demand. The most important thing is to remember that democracy can be undermined from within. In order to protect it, we must set clear boundaries of what is permissible and what isn’t. Surely, Netanyahu crossed these boundaries last week. We must protect them and reinforce them in order to protect our democracy. –Ben Caspit