The great lie: "I'm more right-wing than Netanyahu"

It may be a bit strange, even funny, to publish this on election morning, but it was a sleepless night, so the text just poured out of me.

I believe everyone here has seen the massive campaign by dozens of influencers encouraging people to vote differently because "we need change here."

But where does the problem begin, and where does this campaign become so demagogic and perhaps even a bit deceptive? I'll explain in a moment. First, let me emphasize: any influencer who says she's voting for the Democrats or further left is actually perfectly fine. For the simple reason that she believes in left-wing values, peace, freedom for Palestinians, opposition to settlements, left-wing economics, and so on.

Who do I have a problem with? Influencers like Maayan Adam, Danielle Amit, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few more, who tell you: "Netanyahu is right-wing? What's right-wing about him? I'm more right-wing than he is, and therefore I'm choosing Bennett."

And why is that statement so hypocritical? Because indeed, it may well be that Netanyahu is not a right-winger (personally I think it stems more from Netanyahu's cowardice, but that's another topic), and it may be that Deri and Gafni are not right-wingers at all, and it may also be that there are people in the change bloc, in the parties of Eisenkot, Liberman and Bennett, who are indeed more right-wing than many people in Likud. But, and here comes the sting, in today's Israel there is almost no significance to which party is larger within a specific bloc, but rather which bloc is larger.

There is one option that is worst for the chareidim but perhaps best for divided Israel, and I'm talking of course about a unity government.

In a case where Liberman/Bennett/Eisenkot did not rule out sitting under/with Netanyahu, there would indeed be significance to which party I strengthen.

For the following reason: a unity government that would have been formed, let's say without the chareidim, the Arabs and Ben Gvir, would have left the rest of the parties in one large government, and then there would definitely be significance to the size of the party in order to determine many things, and especially to determine who would succeed in pulling it more in their direction, Yair Golan toward him or Smotrich and Feiglin toward them.

But since Israel has an insane culture of boycott, and they call Netanyahu the destroyer of Israel/traitor to Israel, this option has been taken off the table.

What are we left with? A change-bloc government that cannot be formed without the support of the Arab parties. And that's the whole point and that's the whole stupidity/wickedness of those influencers in hiding this truth.

The influencers claim they don't want a Palestinian state to be established, that there's no death penalty for terrorists, Maayan Adam says it's a failure that Gaza isn't completely flattened and that she doesn't have a house there with a sea view.

And it's all true --- but will Bennett do that?? Forget for a moment the belief that we'll live by our sword forever, the antisemitism and the insane hatred we received in the world after October 7th that made it crystal clear why many right-wing processes that 80% of the nation wanted, could not happen.

A "change bloc" government leans on and depends on the Arab parties, there is no other option. And do you think such a government would have flattened Gaza? "Gone in" hard on Hamas? Come on, of course not! The moment Israel wanted to strike Iran/launch a military operation in Gaza, the government would have fallen immediately, or worse, security considerations would have been compromised and made based on political considerations.

And the bottom line? Whoever wants to vote left because those are his positions, that's definitely a legitimate and democratic position.

But whoever tells you he wants "change" and especially those who tell you: "Netanyahu isn't right-wing, we want Bennett's strong hand and blah blah," is either stupid or lying to himself and to you, because in no scenario does the second bloc have a government without leaning on the Arab parties.

In other words, people who vote for Bennett/Eisenkot and Liberman claiming they want a more right-wing security policy, are necessarily talking about a scenario that cannot exist in any form.

It's either another round of elections, or a government with Arabs. (The best option, by the way, would be for the change parties to break one of their promises and sit with Netanyahu in a unity government, and then we'd get a stable government that wants to eradicate Gaza and pass a moderate judicial reform that would be acceptable to most of the nation.)

And one more thing to finish, because I'm sure there will be comments: but if they encourage voting, maybe there will be 61 mandates for the change bloc? To them I'll answer that there's no such chance. Israel after October 7th is much more right-wing. Period.