Just one week after Shinui resigned from the cabinet and the
coalition, that party submitted a no-confidence motion over
the agreement with United Torah Jewry to transfer NIS 290
million ($66 million) to the yeshivas, kollelim,
kindergartens, talmudei Torah, etc.
The decision to submit the no-confidence
motion—Shinui's first move as an opposition
party—was not coincidental in any way. In fact it was
the beginning of a major incitement campaign designed to
bring chareidi-phobia back onto the national agenda.
During its period in the seat of government the pleasures of
power at times led Shinui members to forget the issue that
won the party 15 mandates. But the moment the scent of the
next elections wafted into their nostrils it was clear that
the incitement campaign would return, for without the war
against the chareidim the party has no chance of receiving
even half as many mandates.
In the last elections Shinui rode a wave of anti-chareidi
provocation, just as Refael Eitan did in the 1992 elections
when he shot up from two to eight mandates. But in the short
history of the State of Israel no other party has ever built
its platform exclusively on venomous hatred toward the
chareidi sector, religion and the Torah.
Lapid, Poraz and their cohorts know the political history of
the State of Israel no less than anyone else. They are well
aware if they fail to bring the battle against the chareidim
back onto the forefront their days are numbered.
In the previous elections the national agenda was open. The
intifadah was well underway and there were economic and
social problems, but no issue stood out prominently. This
time the situation is very different. Domestic policy is a
burning issue with the disengagement plan, perhaps to be
followed by plans to evacuate settlements and restructure the
entire Mideast. And the Syrian track might also surface.
Meanwhile socioeconomic issues are hotter than ever. For two
years the government has been executing a broad economic plan
that intensified poverty and widened gaps in Israeli society.
And of course voters have not forgotten the crisis of the
local councils, the religious councils and really the whole
economy.
Thus anti-chareidi antagonism will be very hard to raise onto
the agenda within a short period and cast as a central issue
on which the future of the State of Israel hangs. Shinui will
certainly try, but success appears unlikely. Since it is a
single-issue party with no clear stance on any other matter
Shinui realizes if it fails the party will be doomed to
crumble and fall.
Shinui needs time. To raise a forgotten issue onto the agenda
is not easy, certainly not within the period of time allotted
for campaigning. Therefore the party must begin its election
campaign one or even two years in advance. This explains why
Shinui resigned from the government like political greenhorns
and why it rushed to submit the no-confidence motion over a
piddling NIS 290 million allotted to UTJ.
At this stage the government does not have a majority to
support the budget and it remains uncertain whether it will
have a majority in the near future. It depends on coalition
negotiations and the composition of the new coalition, which
takes time. Thus the budget has little relevance at present.
Who is paying any attention to this NIS 290 million?
Only Shinui. What could the well-sated, hedonists from Shinui
submit a no-confidence motion over? Poverty? Widening social
gaps? The indigent picking through garbage dumps? Shinui
couldn't care less about them. They do not bring in votes.
Only chareidi-baiting brings the party votes. Thus Shinui has
begun its great incitement campaign, which will end only at
the next elections—whether they are held one year from
now or two.
We can only hope the general public is not lured by the
provocations once again. Those who were swayed in the last
elections must have come to their senses somewhat during the
past two years, realizing some things in life are more
important than despising the chareidim and the Jewish
religion.
