New Blood for Israel: Why Our Next Leaders Must Be Bold, Clean and Uncompromised
As Israel's election campaign accelerates after three years of war, the nation faces a defining choice. The coming vote is not merely about policy; it is about the very character of our leadership. We need a synthesis of seasoned security expertise and a fresh generation of principled, untainted public servants who embody the resilient spirit of our people.
I am a strong advocate for electing leaders with proven strategic and diplomatic experience during these times of heightened risk. Yet, I am equally convinced that Israel must welcome a new, younger cohort of bright, believing, and honest politicians. Even if they are green, these are the fearless heroes of our recent wars, and they represent our best hope for a future built on integrity and national pride.
I eagerly await the day, perhaps in the 2028 or 2030 elections, when the current crop of political figures, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Yair Lapid and Moshe Gafni, will have passed the torch. In the meantime, when I cast my ballot this fall, I will seek a synthesis between two competing pulls: experience versus innovation, resilience versus virtue.
This approach demands difficult choices. It begins with ruling out the most cynical and mercenary candidates, those whose careers are built on divisive rhetoric and endless political acrobatics. The classic examples of such cynicism are Avigdor Liberman, Aryeh Deri, and Yair Golan.
Avigdor Liberman: A Record of Negligence and Incitement
Liberman is a cross between a populist rabble-rouser and an autocrat who excels at accruing power despite inherent weaknesses. His contribution to Israeli politics runs from negligible to detrimental. He has no record to speak of, aside from incitement and vindictiveness.
Can anyone recall a single positive contribution Liberman made to Israeli society, economy, defense, or foreign policy over his 40 years in politics? I remember his grandiloquent and violent eruptions on sensitive issues and his pouting resignations each time he did not get his way. He called for the bombing of the Aswan Dam and proposed transferring Arab citizens of the Galilee triangle to Palestinian control. In 2019, he nauseatingly pushed the country into another unnecessary election campaign, threatening to do so again now, all over the haredi draft issue.
Aryeh Deri: The Architect of Dependency
Deri's ruinous record in politics is without peer. He is an acute expression of pugnacious haredi power, bulldozing over legal, civic, and moral boundaries to enfeeble his voting public. He is the central father-figure of the haredi world of dependency, creating a government-support system so comprehensive that it does not pay for a kollel student to step out into the working world.
Deri has never spoken positively about higher education or professional training for ultra-Orthodox men and women. He is directly culpable for turning Rabbi Ovadia Yosef from his earlier path of moderation. Despite being caught in criminal violations and going to jail, he brushes this off by presenting himself as a persecuted Dreyfus, cynically inflaming ethnic tensions by claiming marginalization.
Deri also holds the bag for the disasters that befell the haredi community in Meron on Lag Ba'omer in 2021 and during the coronavirus epidemic. And of course, he has been a key figure in the ongoing effort to legislate a permanent exemption of haredi men from military service, all while sitting in the internal security cabinet that sent our soldiers into battle.
Yair Golan: A Disappointment and a Danger
Golan is both a disappointment and a danger. I remember him as a nationalist and appropriately aggressive military general who proudly paraded his Jewish-traditional roots. But then he sensed a vacuum at the far left of the political spectrum and jumped in, revving up the most extreme positions to benefit from the void.
Golan has grandiloquently attacked religious Zionists, settlers, and soldiers, and accused Israel of genocide and other war crimes. In every online video of his rallies, raw hatred and demonization dominate the discourse, with threats to crush institutions that don't align with his worldview and to violently roll back settlements.
Israel Needs a Different Breed of Leaders
Oh, how Israel truly needs a different breed of upright, principled, and temperate leaders! As we look to the future, we must draw inspiration from our biblical heritage, from the judges and kings who led with wisdom and courage. We need leaders who will defend our identity, secure our borders, and champion the innovation that makes Israel a light unto the nations.
The choice is clear. We must reject the cynics and the divisive, and embrace a new generation of heroes who will carry the banner of Zionism with pride and integrity.