Q&A: Election Dilemma
Election Dilemma
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Do you think there is a moral problem with voting in an election for a candidate who is morally corrupt and perhaps even criminally so, even though I think he is the proper candidate to be Prime Minister of Israel? Or perhaps in such a case the end (electing him prime minister) sanctifies the means (voting for a corrupt person)?
Answer
Good question, and of course there is no one simple answer to it.
As a rule, I think one should not vote for him, unless the alternative is catastrophic (like when one asks an army commander who killed unintentionally and was exiled to go out and fight for us. According to Jewish law, he does not leave his city of refuge, or at least is not obligated to leave).
Beyond that, I think it is hard to detach the moral problem from the practical assessment of the consequences and performance. It is not right to vote for a corrupt candidate because this also has problematic consequences on the practical level. Even if he will be a good prime minister in the short term, there are not insignificant costs in the long term. Educationally and practically. Corrupting the system has severe consequences for how it functions.
And if we are talking about Bibi, in his current situation in my view it is absurd to vote for him even on the practical level, even without knowing what the court ruling will be. First, he will be occupied with his own affairs and not fully available for his public duties. Second, his decisions will be suspect as influenced by irrelevant personal interests (that is, suspected of being made on the basis of advancing his personal interests and populism rather than the public interest. See, for example, Arik Sharon, the Greek island affair, and the disengagement). In general, he has been in office for far too long and it is time for him to go. There is something very unhealthy about such a high office becoming a lifetime position, turning the state and the government into his private estate.
Well, I drifted a bit into politics, to my shame.
Discussion on Answer
Feiglin: “The right-wing bloc interests my grandmother”
https://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/393633
I’d already heard that. But neither does the left-wing bloc. Does he rule out Bibi?
As far as I remember, he does not rule him out,
He said he has no doubt that Peres and the like were far more corrupt, and that one should wait for the court’s decision.
(They’ll start suspecting here that I’m his spokesman :-))
Here, I found it:
https://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/366306
Rabbi, if Gantz becomes prime minister, a Palestinian state could arise here, and in general his conduct on the fronts מול Iran and Gaza will be more accommodating and weaker. The consequences will be many deaths (like the consequences of Rabin’s government). Is the enlightenment and protest against corruption that Bibi represents worth the heavy price that the state may pay?
In my estimation, the issue of a Palestinian state does not depend on us, and it is not necessarily harmful to us either (our responsibility for the territory, because they do not have a state, imposes many restrictions on us). As I wrote, I do not see the great disasters that will happen without Bibi. In the end he too will have to go, so what will happen then?
What about the presumption of innocence? After all, there have already been cases where indictments were filed against public figures and in the end they were acquitted (including against Bibi himself).
Yes, because what difference does it make whether it’s Rabin or Shamir (“corrupt, we’re sick of you,” remember? That was said about Shamir’s Likud)? Tell that to the victims butchered because of Oslo, of whom the cemeteries are full. This smugness is amazing, maybe a kind of historicism.
Beyond that, voting for him, even if there isn’t a shred of anything good in him, is a vote against the “deep state” mechanism, selective enforcement, and politically motivated frame-ups.
Oren,
I wasn’t dealing with the question of innocence. On the contrary, what I wrote is true even if he is found completely innocent.
Sony,
That’s demagoguery. In the meantime, the right has made no fewer agreements. The question whether they harmed us or not is really not clear to me. The mantra about the “victims of Oslo” is, in my opinion, baseless. In the meantime, Oslo, with all the criticism I also have of it, saves quite a few lives (the cooperation with the Authority). It’s easiest to present everything as black and white, but usually reality is not like that.
And of course I haven’t yet addressed the famous “frame-up cases.” Apparently you have better information than all the law-enforcement authorities. Good for you.
If he is found completely innocent, then why would you see him as corrupt?
Where did I write that he is corrupt? The question was about a corrupt prime minister, and I answered that. Afterwards I added a reference to Bibi and explicitly noted that none of my arguments assume that he is corrupt.
They also had excellent information about Yaakov נאמן, Rafael Eitan and others, those holy authorities. If the accusations are flimsy and forced, and even in part incoherent (as Amit Segal noted on Telegram), then I allow myself to be doubtful.
By the way, after writing this, suddenly a light bulb went on for me. As long as Likud doesn’t remove him from the head of the party and from the candidacy for prime minister, it follows from what I wrote that one ought to vote for Blue and White or further left. Everyone on the right has declared that they will go with him (the Haredim, Liberman, Jewish Home-racists, New Right and renewed Right), and therefore giving them your vote is like giving your vote to Bibi. Only that way can I make sure my vote does not go to Bibi. And what about right and left issues? Personally, that doesn’t seem all that significant to me. (I don’t know what Feiglin says on this matter. And what about Kahlon? Worth checking.)
And what about abilities and experience? Don’t worry, nothing will collapse. There is life after Bibi. As our sages said: cemeteries are full of people who were irreplaceable…