The elections are an important wake-up call for liberal voters

Yuval Shade argues that the election results prove that the Zionist liberal public is a minority, and calls on it to adopt a minority consciousness, abandon boycott politics, and cooperate with any political factor that will advance its interests, even at the cost of compromises.

In an opinion piece, Yuval Shade argues that the results of the recent elections show that the Zionist liberal public in Israel is a minority, not a majority. The bloc achieved only 48 seats, despite near-perfect preparation, high voter turnout, and an airlift of voters from abroad. Shade calls for internalizing this reality and developing a minority consciousness, similar to the Haredi and religious-nationalist sectors, and to look after the narrow interests of the liberal public. The third practical conclusion is to stop boycott politics and cooperate with any factor that will provide political returns, including the Haredim, Arabs, Netanyahu and Likud, even at the cost of severe moral compromises. Shade notes that staying out of the political game is not an option for a minority, and that in the long run this move may change the balance of power.