Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to send flowers as soon as he can to the heads of Israel's law enforcement agencies, since that ugliest election to date didn't tackle issues such as the Jordan Valley's annexation, ultra-Orthodox enlistment, or the social gap.
The latest election round was revolved around Netanyahu, and whether to believe the law enforcement agencies who seek to put Netanyahu on trial for the three grave indictments he is facing.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares victory as the exit polls were released on Election Day, March 2, 2020
(Photo: AFP)
The results were clear: with 58 seats for the Likud, many of the public chose to believe Netanyahu instead of former state prosecutor Shai Nitzan, who said Netanyahu should stand trial for his alleged corruption.
Netanyahu also needs to send flowers to Blue & White leader Benny Gantz, who failed to show he had the ability to match Netanyahu's assorted accomplishments of the last decade, including the improvement in Israel's relations with Arab and African countries, and lowering the number of terrorist victims to its lowest yet.
When I asked people about Gantz's vision for Israel, all I got were stutters; I doubt someone could have actually answered my question with a coherent answer.
In the last three elections, there were enough floating voters to translate into seven or six Knesset seats, a fact that motivated both the left and right.
Blue & White was supposed to convince these floating voters to join it - and subsequently failed. And when Gantz announced the superiority of the judicial system over the political system, he sided with Nitzan and Netanyahu portrayed as a zealous witch hunter.
But this is not how you win elections, this is how you lose them.
Netanyahu for his part ran the dirtiest, most despicable hate-filled campaign Israel has ever seen, a campaign that made the voters of the Likud seem like a pack of rabid animals.
Let us remember the February 2018 interview by then-Israel Police commissioner Roni Alsheikh, whose hostility towards Netanyahu was only too clear, despite him being a yarmulke-wearing former settler who was appointed to the position by the prime minister.
The interview wasn't just a milestone - it was a turning point.
It was followed by claims that the police chief was indeed hostile to Netanyahu - not because of the prime minister's corruption, but due to his own political aspirations.
In the end, the public chose to believe Netanyahu, because if the chief of police is as corrupt as they claim, it is tough to believe him when he accuses Netanyahu of any misdeeds.
No letters by hundreds of pilots or petitions from academics claiming Netanyahu is unfit to serve as PM will dissuade President Reuven Rivlin from giving the Likud leader the mandate to form the next government.
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L-R: Blue & White's Gabi Ashkenazi, Yair Lapid, Moshe Ya'alon and Benny Gantz after the exit polls were released on Election Day, march 2, 2020
(Photo: Reuters)
Letters of this ilk could even have the opposite desired effect, such is the strength of democracy.
Israeli society is reeling and in order to recover we need a unity government. I know that Blue & White declared they would under no circumstances be part of a government under Netanyahu, but if such a chance arises, they must seize it with both hands, since ultimately politics is about choosing the lesser of two evils.
While a unity government would be a broken promise on Blue & White's part, more elections, or an ultra-Orthodox government headed by Netanyahu is far worse.
It’s safe to assume that both Blue & White's members and its voters regret missing the opportunity of a unity government. After all, Netanyahu is still prime minister.
There is no need to make any further mistakes, Blue & White's stubbornness didn’t do its political standing any favors.
Now is the time for the party to put national interests first and join a unity government.