It seems that a new wind is blowing in the country.
This week I flew to Europe. On the way to the Airport, the taxi-driver told me: That’s it, thereis no hope left. We shall never have peace with the Palestinians. There is no one to talk with. Nocompromise is possible. The war will go on and on. Therefore he will vote for Sharon.
I remarked that if this is so, his grandchildren would certainly leave the country. “Whatgrandchildren,” he replied with sorrow, mingled with pride, “My son is an architect in LosAngeles!”
I returned after five days. The taxi driver who took me home from the airport surprised me. “Allmy life I have voted Likud,” he said, “But the Likud has failed. There is no difference betweenSharon and Netanyahu. They have not brought security but look how the economy has gone topieces. This time I shall vote for Mitzna.”
What has happened during these five days? One thing: Amram Mitzna has won the primary electionin the Labor Party.
This, by itself, is a stunning feat in every respect. An introvert “Yekke” (as German Jews arecondescendingly called) without charisma has defeated an “authentic”, back-slappingIraqi. A dove has beaten a hawk. A political newcomer, who has announced that he is ready to talkwith Arafat, has routed the Defense Minister, who has tried to destroy the PalestinianAuthority.
That is a shining victory of Mitzna’s. But it is much more. It is a symptom of mysterioushappenings in the depths of the national consciousness.
During the last two years, while the cycle of atrocities got wider and wider, I was often askedhow I managed to remain optimistic, while everybody around lost all hope. I answered that oneday, in a week or in five years, the public will wake up in the morning and exclaim: “Enough! Thiscan’t go on! A solution must be found!”
“What good will that do?” the doom-sayers would say, “There is no politician around who couldlead the country towards peace.”
“The demand will create the offer,” I answered, “When there is a demand for such a leader, hewill appear from somewhere.”
I think that this forecast is beginning to be realized. The currents beneath the surface ofpublic consciousness are changing. The IDF conquers, occupies, kills, “destroys the terrorinfrastructure”, and the Palestinian attacks do not stop for a moment. The regulardeclarations of Sharon and Mofaz start to sound like self-parody. For the first time,”simple” people realize that there is a close relationship between the intifada, theeconomic crisis and the social emergency.
That does not cause the public to love the Palestinians or to get enamored with peace. Not atall. But it causes it to look for a leader with vision, who will try sincerely to break out of thebloody cycle and find a solution. The settlers are “out”, compromise is “in”. Amram Mitzna hasappeared at the right place, at the right time, with the right message.
Now the slogan must be: Full Steam Ahead!
Some cautious peace activists say that we should not ask for too much. One has to look at thepublic opinion polls. Mitzna cannot beat Sharon. But he can overhaul the Labor Party inopposition, and that is also important.
This is a mistake. The polls photograph the situation on the ground. They do not see what’shappening underneath. There, new currents are flowing. Therefore, the aim must be: victory.
True, a victory of Mitzna over the Sharonyahu looks like a miracle. But that’s how a victory ofMitzna over Ben-Eliezer looked a month ago. It will be difficult, very difficult. But it ispossible. All efforts must be made to achieve it.
According to all the polls, the gap between the two big blocs, the right and the left, is quitesmall even now, before the public has grasped the full impact of what happened in the LaborParty. Something like 65 against 55. Which means that it is enough to capture five-six seats inthe Knesset in order to achieve an enormous change.
There is no alternative to victory. For the future of Israel, the saving of human lives and thereconstruction of the state, the difference between Mitzna and Sharon is colossal.
If the hour has not yet struck, and the Likud wins after all, the struggle must not be stopped fora moment. If Sharon or Netanyahu win, they will head a narrow, divided and fragile coalition,unable to solve any problems. It will be torn between the need to please Bush and the need toappease the extreme right wing of Lieberman-Eytam. Since things under their leadership willgo on deteriorating, it can be brought down within a year and then the big reversal must beeffected.
Therefore, any thought about an effort to set up a “national unity” government after theelection is dangerous. No doubt Sharon will offer Labor seductive terms for joining. In thelanguage of the Mafia: “An offer they can’t refuse.” But Sharon is Sharon and will neverchange. In order to remain true to himself, Mitzna will have to refuse. Even if his job-hungryand unprincipled colleagues urge him to accept.
The aim must be: a total reversal, all along the front and in every area. Nothing less willsuffice.
True, Amram Mitzna may disappoint us. Let’s not forget the enthusiasm with which we welcomedEhud Barak, who led to disaster. He may break on the way. That can also happen, and we must beready for it. But it is reasonable to expect the opposite. A person can grow in the job andfulfill the mission history has placed on him.
At this moment, ecce homo.