Yair Lapid calling for new elections is destroying the unity of Israel - opinion

Opposition leader Yair Lapid is calling for new elections to be held immediately and says that protests are being planned for this cause.

This is the third time that Lapid has chosen to destroy the unity of Israel to make political points in his effort to return to power. In his blind, focused determination to oust the current government, he is inflicting profound damage on the people of Israel and the spirit of Israel. He is willing to tear us to shreds in his quest for power.

First, within days of losing the November 2022 election, he declared that it was “undemocratic.” Not because of irregularities in the voting system – all votes were collected and counted correctly – but because he did not win. He launched a huge protest movement, with money from who knows where, to fund the ads and protests. Then he moved on to even greater forms of hate speech when judicial reform was announced. As our people splintered and shattered, there were no words of comfort or reconciliation from Lapid.

Our enemies saw our weakness and struck ruthlessly on October 7. As traumatized Israelis were preparing for war, Lapid refused the hand extended to him to form a unity government to handle the crisis. He could have been a hero and cast aside his strong differences with others to help us face our enemies, strong and united, but he refused. He could have emulated the statesmanship of then-opposition leader Menachem Begin, who joined the unity government formed in the growing crisis prior to the Six Day War, but he did not.

Now, again, Lapid is at the forefront of hate and protest, preparing to divide the country once more. Anyone in their right mind knows that Israel must not hold elections in the middle of a war. It is not the will of the Israeli people, whose main concern is to keep our borders secure and destroy Hamas. Holding new elections now would be an act of insanity, sucking the strength out of the nation and creating chaos once again.

Surely, there will be a reckoning for the politicians and others for their lack of readiness on October 7th, but not now. We must pull together even stronger as a people. The effort to divide us is a premeditated ploy of our enemies. We cannot fall into this trap again. We must pull together, harder than ever.

But what of free speech, you say? Our right to protest? I know that I speak for the majority of Israelis when I say that the only protest I will tolerate now is for the hostages; may God keep them safe and bring them back home soon. What our leaders need to focus on now, no matter what other nations demand, is how to win this war as quickly as possible.

Wherever I go, everyone I talk to is trying hard to help the war effort. They stretch out their hands to embrace families who have been displaced. They raise money for equipment for soldiers, sometimes using their pension money. They bake cookies and cakes to be sent to the front. They try to support young mothers whose husbands have been away at war for months. They try to organize help for the wounded. This is the real Israel, and I am proud to be a part of it.

It's time for Lapid to become irrelevant

It is time for Lapid to wake up and realize the damage he is doing. It is time for Lapid to become irrelevant. No matter what he is hoping to achieve, we are stronger without him.

The writer is a retired registered nurse and the mother of triplets and twins. She and her husband made aliyah 11 years ago from Canada, preceded by their children. Their four sons have all served in the IDF.