Be nicer to each other, Herzog warns Israel’s warring politicians
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Be nicer to each other, Herzog warns Israel’s warring politicians

With barely a month until the election, Israel's president says ‘voices of extremism and violence lead us into an abyss of hatred’

Michael Daventry is Jewish News’s foreign and broadcast editor

President Herzog's warning came at a Selichot service at the president’s synagogue on Wednesday night
President Herzog's warning came at a Selichot service at the president’s synagogue on Wednesday night

Israel’s president has intervened in his country’s election campaign to condemn the rise of violence and extremism among politicians and parties.

Isaac Herzog said Israelis and their leaders should not let the “voices of extremism and violence lead us into an abyss of hatred”.

He added: “We must not view those who think differently from us as enemies.”

Israelis head to the polls on November 1 for the fifth Knesset election in less than four years.

According to opinion polls there is little indication that the country’s political deadlock will be broken, although there are indications that parties on the far-right will do better than before.

Herzog warned there were already signs that a rise in “verbal violence” was escalating.

He said: “Accusations of treason, comparisons to the Nazis, threats and curses in the public sphere and on social media. Verbal violence never remains that way.

“Concerningly, we see insults turning into physical violence, into curled fists, into assaults, into bloodshed.

Israelis should take care “before your next nasty post, before your next hate-filled tweet or reply, before fighting, attacking, and hitting”, he said.

“Let us prove that there is a way to make important decisions without dismantling our home.

“Let us remember that we have a country to live in together, the day after the elections.

A victory for the right-wing bloc in November’s election would pave the way for Benjamin Netanyahu’s return as prime minister.

He was pushed into opposition in the summer of 2021 after eight political parties, including one representing Israeli Arab voters, formed a coalition against him led by Naftali Bennett.

That coalition had a very small majority and collapsed earlier this year, prompting Bennett to retire from politics and Yair Lapid to take his place as prime minister.

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