Senior Officials, Media, and Opposition Allegedly Undermine Israeli Right Ahead of October Elections

Political commentator Yaakov Bardugo, speaking on Channel 14, accused a coalition of senior bureaucrats, the media, and a weak opposition of orchestrating a campaign to topple Israel's right-wing government ahead of the October 27 elections. He criticized the Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron's recent minimal and delayed interest rate cut, arguing it was politically motivated to halt economic growth and undermine the right-wing administration. Bardugo also condemned the extension of Yaron's term, calling it a leftist imposition forced by Defense Minister Benny Gantz during the war, labeling it a strategic error by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bezalel Smotrich.

Bardugo further attacked the Israeli judiciary, describing it not as a neutral guardian of the law but as the true opposition to the government. He accused the courts of creating societal chaos through claims of constitutional crises and politically charged rulings aimed at weakening right-wing voters and normalizing anti-Zionist elements in power. He warned that this dynamic threatens Israel's Jewish character, citing former IDF Chief Gadi Eisenkot's alleged alliances with supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and Mansour Abbas, who openly acknowledged being Eisenkot and Yair Golan's political allies.

The media, particularly Channel 12, was accused of actively working against the government by promoting fabricated polls and endorsing various opposition figures labeled as "useful idiots" to unseat the right. Bardugo urged the right-wing camp to unite and avoid fragmentation into minor parties, dismissing new factions like "Clean Right" and "Soft Right" as distractions. He emphasized that only a massive turnout for Likud on October 27 can decisively counter attempts to "steal the country." The article is based on Bardugo's remarks on the "Israel HaBoker" program with Oded Menashe.