Eighteen months ago as soon as the exit polls predicted the
sizable victory of Ehud Barak and the Left, thousands and
thousands of people streamed to Rabin Square in Tel Aviv to
celebrate. Speakers and entertainers came. The show lasted
for hours, climaxed by the appearance of Ehud Barak who
proclaimed, "A new dawn has broken." He was greeted with
persistent chants of: "Anyone but Shas."
Two weeks ago and just over 18 months later when the Right
won, there was no celebration in Rabin Square or elsewhere,
even though their candidate won the election by the largest
margin ever in Israeli history. Nowhere were there any
crowds chanting: "Anyone but Meretz," or the like. The mood
remained calm and even the prime minister-elect gave a low-
key speech stressing the need for unity and conciliation.
The differences between the two responses to victory are
important.
Writing in the leftist newspaper Ha'aretz, journalist
L. Galili also compared the two and did a little soul-
searching. "The behavior of the two political camps after
the elections tells us something about the nature of the
differences between the Left and the Right. The first call
from the Left after the elections of '99 was `Anyone but
Shas,' while the first call that came from the Right after
it won the election -- even the non-Parliamentary elements
who have nothing to gain from unity -- is an apparently
sincere call for unifying some of the diverse parties and
entities that make up the Leftist camp. . . . they simply
broadcast two different feelings. . . . If "anyone but Shas"
implies a certain amount of hubris on the part of a very
large camp, the different restrained reaction of the Right
implies a large measure of humility. These two tendencies --
the hubris of the Left vs. the humility of the Right -- are
permanent characteristics."
In fact the differences between the two sides are not really
political in nature. There are political differences, but
their source is much broader and deeper. Even the Left sees
this, at least some of the time. Dr. Amnon Raz-Krutzkin, a
radical Leftist who helped found the organization No More
Colonialism, said: "With is, the Left is a cultural
identification and not a political stand. It also includes a
nauseating elitism vis-a-vis broad portions of Israeli
society, and I very much hope that it will be thoroughly
aired out. The elitism that led to the cries of `Anyone but
Shas' is the same elitism with which the Left treats the
Palestinians."
We would add that this elitism is applied as well to the
chareidi community. The hubris of the Left is so clearly
apparent whenever the discussion turns to any matter of
shemiras mitzvos, of faith, of our tradition -- of
anything Jewish.
The Left internally views it all as one package, though in
public debates it often obscures it. However this is the
reason that we usually find ourselves with the Right.
Generally, the non-religious and even anti-religious people
on the right do not share this broad and deep cultural
alienation from Jewish tradition, and are not so determined
to destroy it.
Obviously both are very far from the ideal that we
anticipate in the geula sheleimoh.
