President Isaac Herzog, in a special statement Tuesday evening, warned of threats to the integrity of the upcoming elections, including foreign interference, and urged the public to treat the campaign as a democratic contest, not a civil war. He cited the historical lesson of Tisha B'Av — that internal hatred destroyed the Jewish commonwealth.
President Isaac Herzog delivered a special address Tuesday evening, on the eve of Tisha B'Av, warning against threats to the integrity of the upcoming elections and urging the public to avoid turning the campaign into a 'civil war'. The speech, which was announced earlier Tuesday, focused on the need for national unity and historical responsibility.
Herzog revealed that he had recently met with Shin Bet director David Zini and Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg, head of the Central Elections Committee, who presented threats to the elections from within and abroad. He called on law enforcement to stand firmly against these threats and urged the public to be cautious about the content they consume and share on social media.
Drawing on the Tisha B'Av theme, the president said that the lesson of the destruction of the Temple twice — caused by internal hatred — must not be repeated. 'Elections are not a civil war,' he stressed. 'We have a historical responsibility towards the generations that came before us and for the generations to come.'
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