Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video calling on right-wing voters not to support parties that fail to cross the electoral threshold, warning that splitting the vote among small parties could bring the left to power.
Netanyahu illustrated his argument by referring to a past election campaign. “I want to tell you a story that some of you may not know. In 1992, there were elections-Likud versus Labor, right versus left. There were people on the right who were angry with Shamir for one reason or another and formed parties to the right of the right."
According to Netanyahu, “Some of them failed to cross the electoral threshold, and the left came to power. The first thing it did was bring Arafat and his associates from Tunis, essentially establishing Palestinian Arab entities both in Gaza and Judea and Samaria." Netanyahu added, “The rest is well known. We paid with thousands murdered and thousands wounded, and we are still dealing with this problem."
The prime minister asked, “Are we going to make this mistake again? I hope not." He said, “I hear many parties being formed here saying, ‘We know everything, we understand everything, we’ll do everything.’"
Netanyahu urged right-wing voters not to support small parties. “What needs to be done is the exact opposite. Don’t create splinter parties that will only burn our votes." He compared such a vote to taking one’s votes and throwing them in the trash.
Netanyahu went on to warn of a possible left-wing government, mentioning Eisenkot’s party, Yair Golan, Mansour Abbas and Avigdor Liberman. In such a scenario, he claimed, they would “liquidate the country" and “impose a fascist regime here."
Netanyahu also claimed such a government would restrict freedom of expression: “You can’t speak, you can’t go to concerts, everyone has to be uniform, they shut down the internet, they shut down Channel 14, and so on." He said, “It would be a disaster-a diplomatic disaster, an internal disaster and a disaster for true democracy."
Netanyahu concluded by calling on right-wing voters “not to vote for these small parties; there will be no trace left of them." He added, “You are wasting your vote. It simply guarantees the rise of the left, and that will be a disaster for Israel. It can be prevented. It is in your hands."