Hendel after visit with lone soldiers: Our discourse is getting more extreme

• Published date: 24 September 2021
• Author: ARIELLA MARSDEN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Hendel visited the sukkah at the Lone Soldier Center in memory of Michael Levin on Thursday, and while they were on this visit, Netanyahu supporters were protesting at Rabin square with signs that said "Bennett, the Oppressor of Jews" and anti-left slogans.

Hendel wrote that he was posting the letter "after a night of reflection about our nation."

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"I have been present in the space of public discourse for many years now," he wrote. "There were harsh comments against Netanyahu, and there are harsh comments against the current prime minister, but I always knew to stop and make sure that we are not moving onto an agenda based on the word 'traitor', whether from the left or the right, and certainly not based on such unbridled hatred against the prime minister and the nation's institutions."

He continued, saying that anger against political change can lead to progressively more extreme commentary that seeks to dismiss the legitimacy of the governing bodies and the law, which in turn leads to distrust in the health institutions and the IDF.

He then addressed the Netanyahu supporters directly, pointing out that when the government was being formed, he promised to replace Netanyahu with a right-wing prime minister, which he did.

"The Likud's 'right-wing government' actualized the disengagement [from Gaza in 2008], and evicted thousands of Jews, Netanyahu's 'right-wing government' released over 1,000 terrorists who...