Rabbi Levine writes:
Election Day in Israel was exquisitely beautiful, a national holiday. Everybody was out. The beaches were jammed, so were the stores, which offered big discounts to shoppers who jammed the mall. One bookstore offered savings to students who voted or intended to vote. This demographic seemed to be really engaged in the political scene, particularly concerned about Israel’s future.
There was such clarity in the blue Israeli sky, but a lot less clarity on the ground. The last election polling permitted in Israel was on the Friday before the Tuesday election. The Prime Minister and his Likud party were behind and they went into high gear over the weekend. Mr. Netanyahu appeared all over the media and spoke at a huge rally over the weekend. His plea was simple: right wing voters need to come back to him, to narrow the gap with the Zionist Union. That plea clearly resonated with many, as other parties to the right suffered substantial losses.
It was terribly dispiriting to hear Bibi announce to the throngs that if elected there would be no two-state solution. On one level the Prime Minister was just reflecting the obvious: conditions are poor for the prospect of even sitting down in the same room with the Palestinian Authority, so he surely was not upsetting any forward momentum. On a deeper level, however, Mr. Netanyahu was undercutting the Zionist dream, articulated in Israel’s Declaration of Independence that the State of Israel would uplift all of its’ citizens and make the region better because of her presence. Ha’Tikva, the Hope, was drained from his political pronouncements.
Even worse, the Prime Minister and his party used ugly tactics to get out the vote. “The Arabs are coming,” they cried. They are going to the polls in big numbers; get out the vote to undercut their influence. How would the Prime Minister or any of us react, pray tell, if people anywhere else cried out, “The Jews are coming. Let’s get out and undercut their influence.” Understandably, we are sensitive to the anti-Semitism found in many countries in many situations. That should particularly sensitize us against expressing similarly bigoted statements. I have to say I was pretty shocked. Let’s see how much gets “walked back” in the coming weeks.
The Joint List, an amalgam of small parties of Arab citizens of Israel, won the third most votes. The Joint List has declared that they won’t join any coalition and no Israeli-Jewish parties will welcome them. In fact, only once in Israel’s history has a Prime Minister welcomed Arab parties into the coalition government and that was Yitzchak Rabin’s Labor Party in the early 90’s.
Allow me to dream naively for a moment. Don’t you think it would be wonderful if Israel could be the one country where Jews and Arabs co-existed together in government? With Islamic radicalism on the rise, wouldn’t this be an amazing positive message for the world?
A guy could dream!
So, what does this election signify? A lot of mixed feelings, I believe. So many people we spoke to were hungry for a more hopeful future in which the government’s priorities were affordable housing and jobs for their kids who worry they won’t be able to make a living in the Promised Land. Guess we spent too much time in liberal Tel Aviv!
Israelis are also understandably insecure about their neighborhood and the Middle East in which they live. They’re not sure they can trust those who purport to speak for their interests. My fear is that Israelis themselves can’t clearly see the road from an anxious present to a better tomorrow. Negotiating a deal with Iran which sidelines their nuclear intentions for a substantial period would reduce the existential threat to Israel and the world and far beats any recognized alternative.
There was not a lot of satisfaction expressed in this beautiful land as Gina and I prepared to return to our home in New York. Many complain that the political system is broken; there are too many parties and the result is a baal hagan, utter confusion. Others cynically said that there will be elections again inside of two years, because the coalition, whatever its’ components, won’t be strong enough to govern strongly and effectively inside or outside Israel.
Perhaps when that time comes our Israeli brothers and sisters can vote more on Ha’Tikva, their future hopes, than on their present fears.
Photo credit: Renee Ghert-Zand/Times of Israel (The tray of Israeli election ballots from March 17th)