Q&A: Political Promises
Political Promises
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I wanted to hear your ethical view regarding political promises and breaking them,
and whether it makes sense to decide on behalf of the voters in a certain situation that this is not what the voter intended when he voted based on that promise.
Answer
This is too general a question. In principle, it seems to me that when it comes to marginal issues and a person realizes that he was mistaken in the promise he made before the election, there is justification for changing his mind (things look different from there…). If these are essential matters, it is possible that he must go back to the voter and obtain renewed consent.
Discussion on Answer
I don’t have any special position on it. One could argue that in the situation that arose (coronavirus, a fourth election on the horizon), it is permissible to break an election promise. Especially since here there isn’t even an option to go back to the voter. It doesn’t seem to me that I have anything more intelligent to say about it. I have to say that it also doesn’t really interest me. Just a political event that, as I understand it, has no interesting theoretical aspects.
And regarding the issue for which the question was written—what happened yesterday—will we need to wait for a special column, or can we hear your opinion here briefly?