The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee united
recently to denounce Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, accusing
him of presenting false reports regarding the opening of
crossing points between Israel and the Gaza Strip. MKs claim
that Mofaz led the committee to understand that he had a
written and signed agreement regarding the crossing points.
In reality he does not have a signed agreement or even an
unsigned agreement—just a draft that nobody seems to
agree on.
In any properly run country a minister, certainly a defense
minister, who presented inaccurate, or—even
worse—deceitful information, would have to resign from
his post the moment he got caught. Only in Israel can he go
on as if nothing happened. Neither the media nor the public
is showing much interest in the affair and the Defense
Minister did not even bother to respond to the charges lodged
against him, knowing the matter would fade away shortly.
And only in Israel can you find a party like Kadima. Recently
the party named right-wing Tzachi HaNanegbi and left-wing
Chaim Ramon joint chairmen of the election headquarters,
replacing Olmert. Whether these two polar opposites will be
able to put their differences aside even for a short period
is not certain at all. Nevertheless the public keeps coming
in droves to support this shatnez party.
Only in Israel can a leading candidate for prime minister
deliver a fuzzy speech and retain the public's faith. Just a
short time ago, while Sharon was running the country rather
than laying in a hospital bed on the seventh floor of
Hadassah Hospital, Olmert said clearly to whoever was willing
to listen there was no alternative other than to continue
with the policy of unilateral disengagements in Judea and
Samaria. Yet now he is holding his tongue. All the talk about
territorial withdrawals has suddenly vanished.
If in the last elections a party with nothing to sell but
hatred managed to garner nearly half a million votes and grab
15 Knesset seats, then this time around why shouldn't a party
with nothing binding its members together and whose leader is
obviously not saying what he plans to do be able to win a
million votes, taking 40 seats or more? Only in Israel.
Shell Shock
Former Shinui Chairman Tommy Lapid overcame his shell shock
to announce his resignation from the party. Lapid, it should
be noted, was never a major politician. Not even a minor
politician. He had a big mouth, great hatred toward the
chareidim and a strong desire to transform the nation of the
Jews into a nation like every other.
Only a politician like Lapid could hole up in his home for
two weeks without offering his constituents a single word of
explanation. When one of his henchmen was not voted into
second place and he himself was barely reelected party
chairman, Lapid sat at home sulking like a hurt
kindergartner. Rather than addressing the huge number of
voters who backed him and stating his case to the media, he
simply hid away as if swallowed up by the earth. Weren't his
supporters entitled to an explanation?
And when he did emerge from his hiding place the string of
imbecilic claims he issued showed he was still suffering from
combat fatigue. Such groundless nonsense has not been heard
from an Israeli political leader for quite some time.
Lapid said in its present composition, after three small-time
MKs and a few inexperienced activists were chosen to head the
list, the party was not worthy of the public's trust.
He could not have made a more foolish pronouncement. What
distinguishes MKs like Rassabi and Leibovitch from Polishook
and Brailovsky? Ask the man-in-the-street to name a Shinui
member besides Lapid. Will he know the name Brailovsky but
not Rassabi?
Lapid also said he took responsibility for Shinui's collapse,
but was not to blame—an inherent contradiction if ever
there was one. If Shinui voters were pleased with the way the
party was being managed would they have left en masse for
Kadima? If the polls show they do not intend to cast their
votes for Shinui again, doesn't this indicate they are
disappointed with Shinui's leaders?
Blaming others is the easiest option. Just ask any
kindergartner. Responsible adults, however, and certainly
leaders, take responsibility for their actions. But since
when has Lapid been a responsible adult? An instigator he was
and an instigator he will remain. Once a bigmouth, always a
bigmouth.
