Election Thoughts Part 2

Having outlined briefly the political landscape here in Israel in Part 1, it is time for me to write my personal reflections and decisions. If I get too long winded [I did] I will complete it in a Part 3. We'll see by the end of this blog :)

It hasn't been easy. Israeli politics, as I have said, are difficult for a lot of reasons. One reason, which one doesn't really understand until living here, is familiarity. Because the political figures are literally the neighbors down the street, the liking or disliking sometimes has more to do with what the wife said at the hairdresser or what the brother did in a bar mitzva. Or what the candidate himself did in the neighborhood.....did he pay for his coffee at the local coffee shop or did he expect gratis? Everyone knows (or has an opinion) about little personal incidents that form, not political decisions, but personal ones.

This is not true in American politics. Yes, the candidates have neighbors who know them personally, but the candidates don't mingle in public very often. Here in Israel, we are a very tiny country, and everybody knows everybody else's business...literally. Jerusalem is just a small town. So is Tel Aviv, but in different ways. The very intimate access to our politicians, while a lot of fun in many ways, nevertheless sometimes clouds our decision making.

That said, what do I think, how will I vote?

When I was in America (though traveling here very often, and staying for 2-3 months at a time) I was a dreamer. I dreamed about Israel, about Zion and how this is our Land. I fought fiercely both with and through various organizations and on my own, with my own two feet and hands, and with my writing, to support strong Zionist causes. I still do and I still will. This is the Land that G-d gave to Am Yisrael, and it needs to be in our custody.

But since moving to Israel three years ago I have changed. I still am a dreamer for Eretz Yisrael, but I have also become a pragmatist. What do I mean by that?

There are times when gut-level idealist energy is needed to accomplish a goal. There was such a time in our recent history. It was before the disengagement from Gush Katif. That was the time for the full force of the national camp to move in unison to stop the explusion. There was momentum, purpose and frankly, righteousness and truth on the side of the opponents to the expulsion - it could have been and should have translated into victory. That was not the time for pragmatism. Yet, in that moment, misplaced, ambitious and questionable pragmatism took the upper hand and lost the battle.

It was a tragedy. More than the homes and lives of the residents of Gush Katif were struck down. Our nation was dealt a blow with much more serious consequences than when an external enemy attacks. The self imposed expulsion tore deeply into the very soul of our nation, an event and an experience from which we haven't yet recovered.

But now, three and one/half years later, three and a half years of a government that says we are tired of winning, that giving away our land is the only alternative, after Gush Katif, after Lebanon, after Regev and Goldwasser, after Gilad Shalit, after rockets and missles raining down on the south, and continued threats (and very recently - activity - unreported in the mainstream media) in the north, our strength must take a different form than it could have shown in the Gush Katif saga.

Combine those three and a half years with the farce and tragedy of Oslo and we have a very serious situation. The momentum of the country is spiraling towards destruction and if the Kadima mentality gets re-elected, we are in deep deep trouble.

It may sound odd, therefore, for me to say that what we do NOT need now, is a loud shout and cry about how right we were about Oslo, about how right we were about Gush Katif, about how right we were about finishing the wars in Lebanon, and now in Gaza. What we need is for someone to stop the spiral downwards, to stop the give away, to stop the appeasement and after that, we can let the playing field level off, and THEN we can return with idealist fervor.

When I posted Part 1 I was still struggling with my decision as to whom to vote for. But two things have happened this week that have made my decision.

In light of these things, which I will explain in Part 3 (as this post is getting too long :), I now believe that it is imperative to vote for Likud. In today's political arena, with all I am observing, I believe it is the right thing to do, for several reasons, again, which I will explain in the next post.

(And I am very sorry, but Part 3 will have to be a motzei Shabbat article as sunset is on it's way. )

Shabbat Shalom