Supporters of Genocide Have No Place in Israel's Next Government
The distance between two Jerusalem landmarks, the Knesset and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, is only three miles; a mere ten-minute drive. Yet within the hallways of the Israeli parliament, there are lawmakers calling to commit genocide, ignoring the most painful and important lesson in the history of the Jewish people. To make it worse, they belong to the ruling party which has been leading Israel for most of the past two decades.
Take for example Nissim Vaturi, a Deputy Speaker of the Knesset on behalf of Likud. Last year, he declared that "the women and children must be put aside, and the adult men in Gaza eliminated." In September 2025, Minister Gila Gamliel, also a member of Likud, announced: "We will turn the Gaza Strip into a place unfit for human habitation until the population leaves, and the same will happen in the West Bank." Another Likud MK, Moshe Sa'ada, spoke last year of "a watershed moment of decision, annihilation, and migration from Gaza," while Tally Gotliv, arguably the party's most provocative lawmaker, said of certain neighborhoods in Gaza that "everyone there is marked for death."
Israeli lawyer Kinneret Barashi is not a member of Knesset, at least not yet; but Likud has appointed her to Israel's official television and radio regulation council. In early 2025, she wrote on social media: "Every trace of the murderous mutations in Gaza must be erased, from the delivery rooms to the last elderly person in Gaza. One hundred percent marked for death in Gaza." Likud didn't denounce her genocidal post, which is still available for all to see.
There is no easy way to say it, but the truth must still be said: in the State of Israel, founded by a people who were the victims of the most brutal genocide in history, the ruling party has legitimized the idea of indiscriminate mass killing, while prominent members of it openly support committing genocide.
Likud's genocidal rhetoric has both reflected and incited extreme levels of dehumanizing perceptions among its voters and the broader public. The same dehumanizing rhetoric has reached parts of the IDF, and the effects can be seen in the staggering number of innocent civilians killed in Gaza.
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Nor is that all. In recent years, Kahanist and anti-democratic forces have taken over Likud, driving its assault on the judicial system, the civil service, the security establishment and the media. Their goal is to remove any obstacles to annexation, ethnic cleansing, and worse.
Yet, as Israel's 2026 election approaches, there are growing voices in the public and political arena calling to prioritize so-called national unity over anything else, arguing that the path to healing Israeli society runs through the establishment of a "broad Zionist government" with Likud.
After years of political and emotional polarization, there is a deep yearning among Israelis to mend the fractures. That's a worthy aspiration. I, too, believe that healing the divisions in our society is one of the central tasks of the next government. But that requires keeping Likud away from power for many years to come.
Some people believe that a Likud without Benjamin Netanyahu will be a better, legitimate partner. They are wrong. Entrusting power to this party in the next government would mean once again abandoning state institutions and democracy itself to those who seek to damage them. Trying to rebuild the ruins together with those working to continue generating them is madness.
No government should be formed with a party that has normalized calls for the annihilation of a civilian population. There are moments when a society is required to draw a clear line between what is legitimate and what is not. This is a question of our most fundamental moral boundaries. More than any other people, we Jews have experienced what can happen when the calls to annihilate a particular group are voiced by those in power. We vowed: never again.
This is not a call to boycott all right-wing parties. The desirable outcome of the elections is a liberal-democratic unity government — from the right (Naftali Bennett) to the left (Yair Golan) — with the hope that an Arab party will join as well.
Nor is it a call to turn our backs on Likud voters. The next government must lead a profound process of repair and reconciliation with Likud voters. This is a major challenge that will require a dialogue free of condescension, one that recognizes identity, values, and the feelings of exclusion and distrust that have accumulated ever since the early days of Israel. The process will also require policies that address social inequality, and questions of representation and participation in the judicial system, among other issues.
How excruciatingly absurd it is that the voices calling for a new government with Likud are the very same people who reject partnership with Arab parties. This, despite the fact that Arab citizens and their political leadership have, since October 7, repeatedly demonstrated civic responsibility, commitment to the democratic rules of the game, and a willingness to integrate into the state, society, and political system in Israel. The unity-seekers propose to grant political legitimacy to a party that has normalized genocidal rhetoric and acts against the foundations of democracy, while disqualifying Arab parties simply because they are Arab.
Anyone who seeks to rebuild democracy, to honor the values of the Declaration of Independence, and to secure a shared future for all the state's citizens, must understand: Likud cannot be a legitimate partner in the next government. Only without it can Israel begin the long and necessary journey of healing and repairing its society.
Ron Gerlitz is CEO of aChord – Social Psychology for Social Change; the opinions expressed are his own.
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posted by Satish Sharma at
04:22
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