Israelis, vote against foreign imperialists, ready to remove our independence!

The drums of war are being readied.

Hamas is holding its war power to not provoke Israelis to vote for the right.
The US “Peace Plan of the Century” is being held under the raps to have it being jumped on us immediately after the elections, to prevent Israelis from voting for the left.

The first is meant to weaken Israel out of existence. The second means well, wants Israel to give up power to foster goodwill among anti-Semites. It is equally suicidal.

Israel must vote resoundingly to the right! Only the right is cynical and proud enough to withstand these pressures and prevent more wars.

Don’t believe the silencing of the anti-Semitism. Don’t believe the call to reasonableness about our haters. It’s good to be naive but not when meeting a lion – much less when surrounded by haters.

There are people who’s judgment is clouded by hatred. Not all people think and feel like you and your Gentile friends. We have true enemies. (Not in the long run but don’t befriend a lion on the day it needs to eat.)

Being overly naive doesn’t lead to peace. It leads to war. War is terrible. It’s a price no one should pay. A Dutch saying goes “Soft physicians making stinking wounds.” Sometimes one must do small ugly things in the short run in order for the overall future to be better.

Learn from history. Not to become cynical or desperate. Good times are coming but the conditions are not ripe yet. Don’t cross the street without looking both ways. Don’t believe mass-murderers just because they smile. Don’t believe naive Jews who just so much want to wish the enemy to be their friend that they forget to check if they are realistic.

Listen to Jews from Arab countries. Listen to religious Jews. Most of them have a good memory and are not too naive. (Don’t listen to the token Arab or religious Jew who went wishful thinking on reality.)

Be naive when you play with kids. Be naive when you make love. Be naive when you tend your garden. But when you may vote, remember that much is at stake. Don’t stay home. (Don’t believe the polls. They have an accuracy of +/-3.5%. That means that if they predict that a party gets 4 seats, the 3.25 percent Knesset threshold – and they predict that about half a dozen parties – each will in fact get somewhere between 0 and 8 seats! That is predicting that is worst than just guessing.) Don’t vote left. (You can give them your money and your soul but not their vote.)

Yes, thank G^d, there are reasonable pure friendly real people on both sides but they are not the norm yet. Don’t confuse your Gentile Arab friends with the attitude of the Arab mentality regarding Israel in the Arab countries and regimes. Much work is needed there. You can’t just assume their goodwill towards Israel, just because you have Arab Gentile friends in Israel or the US – and a few token other ones. Most people in Gaza, Jordan, Egypt and Syria want all Israeli Jews dead.

The fact that this is often used to try scare Israelis into reactionary panic attacks doesn’t mean it’s untrue or should be ignored. Live with unpleasant reality – you can do it! It’s only for a short more while.

You won’t look any good soon when you live on cloud seven and are doing your hair when a train is storming into your direction.

There is enough choice on the right. Pick the one closest to you.

Rightwingers can be feminist, think of the poor and be anti-racist, be religious or secular, non-homophobic, peace-loving and conservative. So, no wonder, there is a feminist party (the New Right), there are parties who think of the poor and are anti-racist (like Shas, All of Us), there are religious parties (like the National Union), there are secular parties (like Israel Our Home), there are non-homophobic parties (like the New Right and Identity), there are peace-loving parties (like Shas) and there is a party to express your support for the status quo (Likud) – all on the right. And there are also individual (allies of) women, poor people, non-Whites, anti-racists, religious people, seculars, gays and peaceniks in many of the rightwing parties.

When you vote for them, you vote for a balanced government, between all these ideals with an invitation to centrist politicians to join. But if you vote for the left, you vote for an extremist government. Their promises for the poor and peace sound nice but are not realistic. Idealists must be realist if they don’t want to give the reign to cold pragmatists.

The pipedreams of the self-proclaimed centrists and the leftist are really dangerous. But don’t trash anyone of them. Just vote to the right.

Also when you’re a feminist anti-capitalist anti-racist religious or secular non-homophobic dovish idealist like me.

Better be safe on election day than sorry on the next day.

The international press and the national press will overwhelmingly depict a win for the right as reactionary but you don’t need to please them. You are responsible to chose life, for yourself, your loved ones and even the strangers. Even our enemies are better off without war.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1