Herzog: Time To Set Aside Politics, Focus On Sowing Division

“I, for one, will be withholding my customary reflexive criticism of the prime minister until these crises have abated, and will instead work on openly fomenting dissent and mutiny.”

Tel Aviv, June 6 – As Israel faces renewed missile attacks in the south and a resurgence of boycott initiatives abroad, Opposition leader Isaac Herzog told fellow lawmakers today that the emerging threats require them to put their political bickering on hold in favor of sowing political divisions.

Salafi militants in the Gaza Strip sent a second volley of rockets toward Ashkelon this afternoon and evening, following  Wednesday’s attack. While neither set of launches caused any casualties, the danger of a reopened front with the Gaza Strip proved real enough for the IDF to deploy Iron Dome missile defense batteries in the region on Friday. At the same time, the high-profile case of Orange Telecom announcing its intention to pull out of the Israeli market, apparently as a result of pressure from anti-Israel activists, has blown new wind into the sails of those seeking to isolate Israel politically and economically.

While both the military and commercial situation would have to deteriorate drastically before significant damage occurs, Herzog has already admonished his fellow parliamentarians not to let petty partisan concerns overshadow the lurking existential dangers, and that they must therefore instead look for ways to make Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu appear weak, indecisive, or vindictive.

“The specter of war again looms in the south, and foes in Europe and elsewhere continue to find every excuse imaginable to turn world opinion against our tiny slice of the world,” said Herzog in an address to Opposition members of Knesset. “For those reasons we must err on the side of responsibility. I, for one, will be withholding my customary reflexive criticism of the prime minister until these crises have abated, and will instead work on openly fomenting dissent and mutiny.”

Other lawmakers echoed Herzog’s sentiments. “I’ve been saying for weeks that the only way to oppose the boycott movement is through unity,” said Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Gal-On. “And my party, at least, intends to pursue that unity by constantly highlighting the shortcomings of the Netanyahu government in terms of the economy, religion, discrimination, diplomacy, and democratic norms.”

Mounting fears of an impending renewal of hostilities in the south have also caused at least one major media outlet to tone down its coverage of Likud misbehavior and, in the interest of solidarity with countrymen facing barrages of rockets and mortars, instead emphasize the unmitigated economic and political disaster that a Likud-led government portends for the country. “We definitely take a political activist stance on many issues, but here we are inclined to make an exception,” noted the Editor-in-Chief of Haaretz, Aluf Benn. “The safety and security of Israel’s citizens is not political. The economic well-being of the country is not political. Our tone and editorial expression will, in the immediate term, acknowledge those realities each time we call for an end to Bibi, the Likud, the right wing in general, and Israel as the nation-state of the Jews.”