A CHANCE TO CLEAN UP THEIR ACT

Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry

The declaration of this new left-right regime may be the very thing to keep us from falling into the abyss. No one can claim anymore that this is a right-wing government. It is now obvious to all that the policies of this two-faced government are dangerous.

Just two weeks ago, all the right-wing political forces in Eretz Yisroel were busy making preparations for an upcoming national election. They momentarily forgot the very troublesome situation in Givat HaUlpana and Migron, two settlements with a sword of expulsion at their throats, along with other far more urgent matters facing the country that required their attention in the coming months.

However, the political reality in Eretz Yisroel turned everything upside down. It turns out that what was urgent yesterday is no less important today. The right-wing politicians once again found themselves occupied with the pressing question of how to prevent the destruction of Jewish neighborhoods and settlements throughout Yehuda and Shomron.

In effect, nothing has changed. Over a period of more than three years, all the responsibility for what’s happening beyond the Green Line has been in the hands of someone with strong left-wing positions, e.g., we have to give away 98% of these territories to the terrorists r”l. As a result, he imposed a ban on settlement construction in Yehuda and Shomron, sending his soldiers to destroy the homes of Jewish families in the middle of the night. Therefore, no one should expect any real changes in the situation, especially now when there’s a new government minister who has an even more extreme left-wing ideology than Netanyahu.

However, this new political bombshell has created a much more difficult reality. It would seem that this plays right into the hands of those who want to cause further destruction. If the Knesset Members faithful to Eretz Yisroel had previously said that this is a right-wing regime, at least for appearance’s sake, the formation of this national unity government has buried that claim, once and for all.

However, the declaration of this new left-right regime may be the very thing to keep us from falling into the abyss. They’ve constantly been telling us that this is a Likud government and we must not topple it under any circumstances, otherwise it will be replaced by a left-wing Kadima government. Today, this excuse no longer applies. No one can claim now that this is a right-wing government and that we can’t demonstrate against Netanyahu, lest we bring him down. This new reality allows for the enlistment of wide support, enabling us to speak out with a much clearer voice against government policies. Since they no longer have to stand behind calls to “strengthen” the prime minister’s position in the government, they can now say explicitly that the policies of this two-headed government are dangerous.

WE MUST CONTINUE TO BRING UNITY TO OUR RANKS

However, there have already been some benefits from the abortive attempt to call new elections. As the smell of elections permeated the air during these past few weeks, we watched as all the right-wing political parties in the Knesset sought to join forces and achieve the best possible results in the upcoming campaign. There were also serious, albeit unsuccessful, efforts to unite these parties into a technical right-wing bloc; the discussions on unity have already made an impact. We also saw the splintering of several political factions, creating real concern that each of the right-wing parties may eventually run separately. Nevertheless, there was an overall feeling that the consolidation of these political forces would achieve greater cooperation in reaching their shared objective.

We have to make good use of this consolidation of political power in the country’s day-to-day activities until the next elections. The general public must demand unity from its politicians, in whatever form that can bring success toward reaching our common goals. The parliamentary representatives of Eretz Yisroel need to remember that they were not sent to the Knesset to deal with their own personal interests; they must nobly advance the far greater cause of protecting the People and the Land of Israel.

Therefore, despite the differences of opinion, we must do everything possible to attain maximum cooperation among all these political forces to prevent further deterioration of the integrity of the Jewish People and the Jewish homeland in Eretz Yisroel, as we advance the truly most important issues.

During the current parliamentary term, we have persistently seen how cooperation among Knesset Members from parties across the political spectrum can produce positive results. We must now hope that such results can be achieved in Givat HaUlpana, if the Knesset passes the proposed legislation legalizing Jewish outposts in Yehuda and Shomron, as sponsored by four different parties.

WANTED: UNITY ACROSS THE BOARD

Until the elections for the Nineteenth Knesset, which will apparently take place at the time prescribed by law (Cheshvan 5774), we must continue to strive for the unification of all the religious parties in one technical bloc, running as a joint list of candidates. If we take a good look at the number of letters written by the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, on this issue, we realize that this is something that can significantly change the whole struggle for a truly Jewish homeland in Eretz Yisroel. It can put an end to many of the constant squabbles that pervade this country today.

The Rebbe never gave up in his demand for a united technical bloc, even after writing numerous letters on the matter without any concrete response. He never relented as he persistently called for unity among the religious politicians in order to win the battle for the People and the Land of Israel.

The false alarm that sounded here in recent weeks has reminded us that there is much work for us to do – and the responsibility is upon our shoulders. The religious politicians have received another year and a half to get themselves organized for the next Knesset election. We hope and pray that they will use this opportunity to achieve true unity, and we should thereby merit that the next prime minister will be Moshiach Tzidkeinu, immediately mamash.