Those who have Israeli friends have probably noticed that most of them have been missing for the past week. They have traveled to Israel to vote in the parliamentary elections held today, Tuesday. Citizens of Israel must be physically present in the country in order to vote.
Many Israelis and Jews feel that this election is crucial for the future of Israel and the Middle East. According to opinion polls since October 7, 2023, about 80 percent of Israelis firmly oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his actions, his government and its rhetoric. An equal percentage of my friends among Sweden's Jews detest Netanyahu and see him as responsible for the global wave of anti-Semitism to which we are victims.
After the opposition triumphed over authoritarian right-wing nationalism in Brazil and Serbia this weekend, and earlier in Hungary and Sweden, there is real hope that people are finally pushing right-wing populism away.
As an Israeli Jew living in Sweden, I do not intend to compare my difficulties with those that the residents of Gaza are going through. At the same time I want to tell you about the insane hatred that Netanyahu provoked in the world against the state of Israel in general and Jews in particular.
Anti-Semitism is not new, but Netanyahu's actions in Gaza and the West Bank have unleashed a wave of hatred against Jews unprecedented since the Holocaust. Netanyahu has deliberately contributed to this in order to unite his opponents and supporters in Israel around the flag – and around himself – in a similar way as Putin does in Russia.
Netanyahu has also damaged relations with many European governments and with both Democrats and Republicans in the United States. Everyone knows that a small country like Israel cannot survive without the support of the West.
Netanyahu stands behind the strategic doctrine which can be summed up in the formulation "Hamas is a strategic asset for the State of Israel". He also bears the main responsibility for the financial support of several billion dollars that Hamas received for many years from Qatar. This allowed Hamas to arm up, invade Israel on October 7, 2023 and murder thousands of Jews in a single day.
A responsible leader would have put the keys on the table and admitted: I failed to assess and manage the situation. I accept responsibility and resign.
Since the massacre on October 7, 2023, Netanyahu has launched an endless war against Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen and the people of the West Bank. He has caused hundreds of thousands of Israelis to flee abroad, but still refuses to end the war, thus preventing the Israelis from recovering.
Thousands of young Israeli women and men have lost arms and legs. Tens of thousands of young people suffer from traumatic stress, Israeli children have sought care for psychological support. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have become addicted to tranquilizers, alcohol and drugs and are unable to move from the acute trauma to processing the long-term traumatic consequences.
Netanyahu's government has taken out long-term loans at high interest rates to finance all this madness. Hundreds of thousands of workers have been forced to leave their jobs and sent to various fronts for up to 500 days of continuous military service.
Netanyahu's election campaign has been terrible. His government has no achievements to show for it. He has run an election campaign characterized by smearing and systematic delegitimization of his political opponents. He has used a ruthless digital propaganda machine to persecute his rivals and incite half the Israeli population against the other half.
Among other things, he has allowed insults such as "Moroccan monkey" to be directed at Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of the centrist party that is best in the opinion polls, even though Eisenkot recently lost his son and two nephews in the war started by Netanyahu. The Israeli security service Shin Bet, which is under Netanyahu's direct responsibility, has also denied several prominent opposition leaders Shin Bet personal protection, despite death threats being circulated against them.
Netanyahu is currently facing charges in three trials in Israel. The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes.
I urge readers to think of Israel on election day, and hope for a victory for the liberal center. Then we can finally begin to rebuild the lives of the people of Gaza, of Israel and of all other people in the region.
