Yair Lapid: The upcoming election is about what we want Israel to be - opinion

Here’s what I did on a typical morning this week before 8 a.m.

I was interviewed on the radio to discuss someone on Channel 14 calling Gadi Eisenkot a “monkey,” and Yinon Magal describing Ofri Bibas, whose brother returned from captivity after his wife and two babies were murdered, as among “the most vile and despicable people living in the State of Israel.”

I worked out.

I spoke on the phone with Noa Dovev, one of our activists. She is only 25. She had been out campaigning for us when a Likud activist spat on her, shoved her, and was filmed making obscene gestures at her.

I put the kettle on.

While it boiled, I spoke to my son, who had spent two hours stuck in traffic the day before because ultra-Orthodox protesters had blocked the road, screaming, “We’d rather die than enlist.”

Over coffee, I read the daily email report from our team tracking fake news. From late July to mid-October, Likud published more than 1,800 pieces of content created or manipulated using AI. Plenty of racist images. Plenty of attempts to frighten people. Endless lies.

I finished my coffee. At eight on the dot, I headed out.

I want to remind you of something you already know – this isn’t who we are.

The overwhelming majority of Israelis are good, hardworking, law-abiding people who don’t want to live surrounded by this poison and ugliness. The good news is they don’t have to.

On October 27, we get to choose who we want to be: a violent, extremist, isolated, and divided country, or an optimistic country, united, forward-looking, respected around the world, the best place on Earth to raise children.

That big question comes with four more:

Over the past three years, thousands of missiles have struck our cities. Hamas gunmen still control Gaza. Hezbollah terrorists roam free in Lebanon. The Iranian regime has survived with its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. For the first time, more Americans sympathize with the Palestinians than with us, and a majority support ending military aid.

Conspiracy theories are gnawing away at public trust in the IDF. The military is worn down and short thousands of combat troops because the ultra-Orthodox refuse to serve. If this government stays, there will be another October 7 and another flydubai.

Or we can have a government that makes us safer. That drafts tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men. That launches a revolution in how we treat those who serve, rewarding reservists instead of draft dodgers. A government that gets Turkey and Qatar out of Gaza and brings Egypt in. That crushes Hamas. That removes the threat of Hezbollah. That does not flinch from striking Iran’s economic infrastructure.

No containment. A strong, swift, decisive response to every threat. A government that understands that real security comes from a combination of military force, economic strength, social solidarity, and international alliances.

A Judaism defined by draft dodging, settler violence, soldiers refusing to go into battle alongside a female paramedic, schools that teach religious coercion and educate against Zionism, money for cronies, homophobia, attacks on Reform and Conservative synagogues, a thirst for revenge and corruption?

Or a Judaism that says our responsibility is toward one another, a Judaism that asks, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?” The broad-minded Judaism of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in which the supreme imperative is to take responsibility for your own life. A Judaism that not only created the State of Israel but also makes an incredible contribution to the world around us. A Judaism that sanctifies the search for justice and the striving for peace. A Judaism of hope.

Will we be a country where, after the worst massacre in our history, the political leadership blocks a state commission of inquiry and blames everyone but itself? A country where people working for Qatar sit at the heart of the Prime Minister’s Office, and instead of firing them on the spot, the prime minister embraces them?

How did we get used to a security cabinet in which a convicted criminal who backs IDF deserters sits alongside a man convicted of supporting terrorism who never served a day in the military? A country where the government attacks the press, the judiciary, the security services, and half the population in an attempt to weaken the foundations of our democracy. A country where women have no role in decision-making and where opponents are branded as enemies.

Or a country with a clear set of values. Anyone convicted of a criminal offense will be barred from serving as a minister. No prime minister will serve more than two terms. Jewish terrorism will be dealt with firmly and without hesitation. The police will fight violent crime and break down protection rackets. The building blocks of liberal democracy will be protected. Women will have equal access to education. Arab citizens will be protected from horrific murder rates.

Political blackmail will give way to a constitution based on the Declaration of Independence, which states, “The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice, and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel.”

An education system in which Israeli children rank below Turkey in science and below Vietnam in mathematics, and all the education minister does is try to hide the test results? A country where taxes have increased and the cost of living keeps soaring, while tens of billions of shekels keep flowing into coalition slush funds and unnecessary government ministries?

Where Ben-Gurion Airport is buckling, flights are being canceled, and the transportation minister flies off on yet another vacation to Marrakesh? A co-pilot from Oman planned to crash a plane into the terminal at Ben-Gurion, the Omani authorities had known about him since 2024, and to this day nobody here can say who cleared him to land? A country where you are more likely to get a government job if you’re connected than if you’re qualified?

Or we can elect people who know how to run things. People who aren’t there to find jobs for their friends or funders but to build an efficient government that puts education first and treats your tax money with respect because you worked hard for it.

A country led by a team of people who get things done, who have run Israel before and did it very well. A team clean of corruption and free of cronyism, where competence is rewarded and political connections are not.

A team that includes two prime ministers, a foreign minister, a finance minister, a defense minister, ministers of economy, education, and social equality. Women who have run the ministries of transportation and communications, and local authorities. Knesset members you can’t fool or trick, because they’ve seen it all before.

Now we can return to the first question: Who do we want to be?

The choice has never been clearer. This is not a choice between Right and Left: A government dependent on parties of anti-Zionist draft dodgers is not a right-wing government.

This is not a choice between religious and secular Israelis: Anyone who abandons the reservist wearing a kippah for the man screaming “We’d rather die than enlist” is not defending Judaism.

This is a choice between those who carry this country on their backs and those who hitch a free ride.

Deuteronomy says, “Choose life, so that you and your descendants may live.” It does not say, “Choose the Right.” It does not say, “Choose the Left.” It says life. And your descendants are Noa Dovev, attacked at the junction for daring to campaign, my son and thousands like him stuck in traffic, our children and grandchildren who want to build their lives here.

After October 28, I’ll be up early again. Before 8:00 a.m., I’ll work out. I’ll put the kettle on. Talk to my son about something other than chaos. Then I want to go to work for the people of Israel as part of a good, hardworking, decent government that will repair Israel and put us on a better path.

If that’s what you want to see too – vote B’Yachad.

The writer is the Israeli opposition leader and a candidate for B’Yachad.