The third part (see part one | part two) of a trilogy
Before Power: Voices of Outrage Against Coercion
When Netanyahu ruled and used COVID-19 as an excuse for laws like the Emergency Powers Act, many politicians who would form the 2021 “change government” harshly criticized coercion.
Yair Lapid, Yesh Atid Chairman (June 8, 2020, X):
“The Corona Law is dangerous. The greatest threat to Israel is that we stop being a democracy.”
Lapid warned of democracy’s erosion under Netanyahu, positioning himself as a defender of freedoms.
Nitzan Horowitz, Meretz MK (July 21, 2020, Facebook):
“The dictatorial Emergency Powers Act will pass today… The government is pathetic, bloated, with garbage leadership—more powers won’t help. They’ll just give Bibi the power to choke us.”
Horowitz attacked coercion and opacity under Netanyahu, promising a better future.
Gabi Lasky, Meretz MK (June 13, 2020, Haaretz):
“The road to dictatorship is paved with regulations… This law isn’t meant to stop COVID’s spread but to silence the public.”
Lasky saw the Corona Law as a political tool and pledged to fight it.
Naftali Bennett, Yamina Chairman (February 2021):
“These lockdowns don’t work, and the government uses them to silence criticism. Netanyahu failed in managing the crisis.”
Bennett positioned himself as an opponent of coercion, promising a different approach.
After Power: Coercion Becomes Policy
On June 13, 2021, the Bennett-Lapid government was sworn in, and quickly, those same voices that criticized Netanyahu adopted a similar—and even harsher—coercion policy under the Green Pass and pressure on the unvaccinated.
Mirav Cohen, Minister of Social Equality (September 5, 2021, personal video):
“I’m for firing people who aren’t vaccinated, who don’t respect the Green Pass… If you don’t participate in social solidarity, don’t expect society to care for you.”
Cohen, from Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, supported harsh economic punishment, ignoring the right to personal choice.
Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister (August 6, 2021, Makor Rishon):
“Someone who doesn’t vaccinate is like holding a submachine gun spraying the Delta variant.”
Bennett, who criticized Netanyahu’s lockdowns, turned the unvaccinated into enemies, adding (July 22, 2021, Israel Hayom): “Vaccine refusers endanger all of our freedoms.”
Nitzan Horowitz, Health Minister (October 29, 2021, Channel 7):
“Vaccine opponents use dictatorship comparisons… They cause people to get sick and die.”
Horowitz, who called the Emergency Powers Act “dictatorial,” condemned those using similar terms against his Green Pass policy.
Mossi Raz, Meretz MK (August 2021):
“In the next pandemic, we should handle it exactly like China.”
Raz, who criticized the Emergency Powers Act in 2020, proposed adopting the Chinese model—a complete contradiction to his prior stance.
A broad coalition—from “left” parties like Meretz and Labor to “right” parties like Yisrael Beiteinu and Yamina—united around a policy of coercion and exclusion, labeling the unvaccinated as an existential threat. An unofficial conversation between Horowitz and Shaked (2021, Rumble) reveals the true motive: “Epidemiologically, it’s correct” to remove the Green Pass from certain places, but “our problem is people who don’t vaccinate”—meaning the pressure was political, not health-based.
Faulty Labeling and Punishment: The Unvaccinated as Scapegoats
The policy went beyond the Green Pass—it turned the unvaccinated into targets for punishment and demonization.
Emily Moati, Labor MK (2021, interview with Yinon Magal):
“Unvaccinated kids learn from home, vaccinated kids go to school… Anyone who refuses to vaccinate should stay home to not endanger other children.”
Moati supported excluding children from schools, using “solidarity” as an excuse.
Yair Golan, Meretz MK:
“If there are Hasidic communities refusing to obey the state’s laws, maybe the state should stop providing them certain services, like healthcare.”
Golan proposed collective punishment, contradicting Meretz’s equality values.
Avigdor Lieberman, Finance Minister (September 23, 2021, Ynet):
“You decided not to vaccinate? Stay home. I’m not obligated to pay for it.”
Lieberman supported economic exclusion, much like Bennett, who refused to fund tests.
Ofer Cassif, Hadash MK (February 21, 2021, Globes):
“Vaccine refusers behave like free riders… We need to balance the public good with individual rights.”
Cassif spoke eloquently about “proportionate balance” before power but remained silent as his colleagues embraced the Green Pass—a policy anything but proportionate.
This labeling—”refusers,” “endangering us all,” “full of hate”—turned the unvaccinated into enemies, without distinguishing between extremists and those seeking choice or transparency.
Empty Promises and Privileges: The Moral Breach
Two additional failures expose the depth of this hypocrisy:
Unfulfilled Promises of Transparency:
Lapid, Bennett, and Horowitz promised transparency when in opposition. Horowitz wrote in 2020 about “garbage leadership” hiding information, and Lapid spoke of “democracy in danger.” But once in power, Cabinet COVID discussions remained shrouded in dark basements, contrary to their promises. The transparency they pledged vanished the moment they became rulers.
Exemptions for Knesset Members:
While the public faced mask mandates and Green Passes, Knesset members received exemptions—in 2021, Green Pass enforcement was inconsistent during plenary and committee sessions. It was as if the virus had the genius to know which rank not to attack. This privilege highlighted their disconnect from the people, reinforcing a sense of betrayal.
The Cost: Loss of Trust
This hypocrisy—criticizing Netanyahu but supporting even harsher coercion—shattered public trust. The “center-left,” which spoke of freedoms, became oppressive; the “right,” which criticized lockdowns, turned into enforcers of social pressure. When Mossi Raz called for “China,” Bennett imagined “submachine guns,” and Cohen demanded firing without compensation, they not only abandoned their principles—they turned the unvaccinated into scapegoats, ignoring legitimate questions about transparency and efficacy. The result? The Bennett-Lapid government fell in 2022, Meretz didn’t pass the threshold, and Netanyahu returned—because the public didn’t forgive the lies.
What’s Left of Common Sense?
After all this, a troubling question remains: What happened to people’s common sense? Their intuition? How did blind followers flock to leaders who sold their values for power, promising democracy and delivering coercion, pledging transparency and hiding everything? This journey—exposing their words, comparing them to actions—has been jarring, almost therapeutic. It shows not just the failure of governance but also of the blind followers, as a public, who let fear and social pressure silence the inner voice that truly knows what’s right. Perhaps this fracture is also an opportunity—for awakening, for questioning, for no longer believing those who promise everything and deliver nothing.
Personal Note: From Balfour to the Green Pass
Before Bennett and Lapid took power, I was there—an activist at protests, bringing issues to Balfour that everyone avoided. I traveled with Sadi to cities across Israel where violence against protesters erupted. We hauled submarines, organized nationwide buses to Jerusalem, and fought. One issue I tried to raise awareness about was bodies—rotting bodies of the disabled and elderly, found in various states of decay, a grim phenomenon I identified. I sought to understand the causes and wake the public. But then the government changed, and those who marched with me flipped. Bennett rose, gatherings became “forbidden” in their eyes, and many became vaccine evangelists. One of them, Ivi Benjamin, even accused us of having “blood on our hands.” The transparency we demanded vanished—Mirav Cohen, as Minister of Social Equality, obstructed the publication of body data, an ostrich in government burying her head in the sand. This journey began in the field, and this article is my way of sharing what I saw—and asking how we lost our way.
