Who are the Retirees?

This isn't the first time when after the votes were counted the Israel public has woken up to the fact that some "unknowns" are unexpectedly in the Knesset, our parliament. I remember the jokes many years ago when Raful Eitan, former general and Chief of Staff, not to be confused with Retiree Party head, Rafi Eitan, found himself and his Tzomet (crossroads) Party elected with to Knesset with what were known as Raful's seven dwarfs. After that the party fell apart, and his political career ended.

The MK's from the Retiree Party are easier to know, since they all had public careers, though my attempts at "googling" them, except for leader Rafi Eitan, were unsuccessful. Concerning Rafi Eitan, the former spy, known as "stinker", for once crawling through a sewer, Newsweek mentions his money-making ties to Castro and his persona non grata status with the U. S.

For many of us, Rafi Eitan is the one who left Jay Jonathan Pollard out in the "cold" and is responsible for "our man in Washington's" long, cruel and totally unprecedented imprisonment.

The Retiree Knesset Members are:
1 Eitan Pentman Rephael
2 Yaakov Ben-Yizri
3 Moshe Sharoni
4 Yitzhak Ziv
5 Yitzhak Galanti
6 Elhanan Glazer
7 Sarah Marom

They are necessary allies in any coalition. It is not clear what exactly their policies are besides the legislation of a Basic Retiree Law that would protect the basic rights of the nationÂ’s senior citizens. The party is also calling for an immediate 25% increase in the monthly retirement benefits paid to senior citizens, and doubling the national health basket for pharmaceuticals to NIS 400 million . Honestly, who could complain about that?

This past election was a "negative" one for many. Most of the population felt a loathing for all of the politicians, right, left and center. Suddenly the trendy Tel Avivians hit on the idea of voting for Gil, the Retiree Party. It seemed like just the right way for the young to show their disgust with the establishment. Many debated between that and the Green Leaf Party, which advocates the legalization of marijuana. For whatever reason, the trendsetters went for the elderly rather than the drugs and extreme left.

And who are the retirees? Those familiar with the Mapai, the old-time Israeli establishment, are familiar with the new MK's. They're "connected." Remember that its head, Rafi Eitan,controlledd Pollard and then left him to the Americans to "take the rap."

Let's see who can make the deal and become Israel's next Prime Minister. Ehud Olmert or Amir Peretz? One thing for sure, they will need the support of the Retirees.