Israel went to the polls on Tuesday and in rather uncharacteristic fashion rendered a clear decision: Benjamin Netanyahu.
No hung jury this time, no tie, no waffling: The country wants Netanyahu back as the head of a very right-wing and religious government. The nation has spoken, and now it is time to honor its decision.
What does that mean? It means letting Netanyahu form a right-wing, very religious coalition. That is what the people want, that is what they voted for.
Israel voted for Netanyahu. Let him govern
And this is not meant to say to the country, as a parent might to a misbehaving child: “You made your bed, now lie in it.” Rather, this is just acknowledging that in a democracy, the will of the people should be respected, and the election results have made this country’s wishes known unequivocally.
When the coalition building begins, there will be calls to bring other parties – such as Benny Gantz’s National Unity or even Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid – into the coalition to form a national unity government. And although there is always something comforting in calls for unity – and some will say this is needed to “moderate” what is shaping up to be the most right-wing government in the country’s history – that is not what the nation voted for.
It did not vote for Gantz to be defense minister or Lapid to be foreign minister. It voted for Netanyahu, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Bezalel Smotrich, and Arye Deri and Yitzhak Goldknopf. They have received a clear mandate; they should be given the reins. If, down the line, Gantz or Lapid or some from their parties opt to join the government, then so be it. But it’s time honor the people’s choice and give them what they voted for.
When you don’t give the people what they vote for, when you give them something they didn’t bargain for, you are inviting problems. Just ask former prime minister Naftali Bennett and the outgoing “government of change.”
That is not a question that can be asked of an incoming Netanyahu government, which received a clear mandate to govern.
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