This is the last chance to save Israel
Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, on the eve of Yom Kippur calls for a reassessment of the past year and declares that the elections on October 27 will be the last chance to save Israel as a Jewish, Zionist, democratic, and liberal state. The only guarantee is the adoption of a constitution through a national referendum.
On the eve of the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party and Knesset member Avigdor Lieberman publishes an address in which he calls for taking stock of the past year and contemplating the future. He states that the 'terrible days' must end on October 27 — election day, which, in his words, will be the last chance to save Israel as a Jewish, Zionist, democratic, and liberal state. Lieberman claims that over the past four years, the principles of the Declaration of Independence have been grossly violated in Israel, citing examples: the expansion of rabbinical court powers, attempts to enforce gender-segregated education in academic institutions, and the Bnei Brak municipality's decision on separate sidewalks. In his view, the only guarantor of preserving Israel should be a constitution that clearly defines the rights and duties of citizens, the relationship between religion and state, and the separation of powers. He reminds that the constitution was supposed to be adopted before October 1, 1948, but this did not happen due to opposition from the Orthodox establishment, and that attempts to advance it were made by Menachem Begin, Yohanan Bader, Menachem Ben-Sasson, and Uriel Reichman. Lieberman believes the current Knesset is incapable of adopting a constitution and proposes: the new government creates a group of experts to prepare the text, the Knesset passes a law to bring the constitution to a national referendum. The commitment to adopt a constitution, he says, must be enshrined in the coalition agreements of the future government. He calls on Russian-speaking citizens to come to the polls on October 27.