Election 2002 is over but election 2003 is just getting under way…in Israel, that is.
The national unity government has served its purpose during some very difficult times for the Jewish state, but it was fated to be a short-lived solution. How could it last with two parties whose politics are as antithetical as those of our own Republicans and Democrats?
Israel’s leftist Labor Party is now free once again to take up the role of the opposition. And Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Likud Party can campaign on a right-wing agenda.
As evidenced by the election in our own country, the world seems to be edging farther to the right, particularly in the aftermath of the kind of terror attacks Israelis are all too familiar with. And it was the resurgence of the intifada two years ago, coupled with the failure of the peace process, that led to the election of Sharon in February 2001.
This week, as we marked the seven-year anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin’s death, the peace process seems to be a lost dream, and the overarching concern is security.
As Israelis comment all too often, they live in a bad neighborhood. And it is their job to determine whether they will ultimately achieve greater security by making what may be at best a shaky peace with their neighbors or by increasingly fortifying their tiny country.
Israelis must determine their own fate when they go to the polls Jan. 28.
Our job is to support Israelis because they are fighting to keep the Jewish homeland safe for the rest of us. We must ensure that there will always be a place where Jews will be safe from the kind of tyranny that is still rampant in the Mideast and much of the world.
Certainly, American Jews can offer financial support to candidates in Israel. We can try to influence the vote by advertising and writing letters in Israeli newspapers. But ultimately we have to trust Israeli Jews to do the right thing.
Undoubtedly on Jan. 29 some of us will feel Israelis voted the wrong way. But that doesn’t take us off the hook as far as financial aid is concerned. Whether or not we agree with the leaders of Israel, we are committed to helping the country survive as a Jewish homeland.