Exciting! Wonderful!

Do you know what I'm describing? I'm describing the present Israeli election campaign. Yes, I do consider it wonderful and exciting.

We usually discover the bad things about the candidates after they're elected, but now the politicians are revealing the truth much earlier.

Do you remember how upset and shocked we were when Menachem Begin gave the Sinai to Egypt and destroyed the lovely communities there? I remember, and I still feel betrayed. As Tzachi Hanegbi so accurately said that Menachem Begin changed everything. I just don't agree with Tzachi's final conclusion that the Greater Land of Israel dream is dead: "It's been dead for many years already, ever since [Menachem] Begin agreed to give autonomy [in Judea and Samaria]."


We had such high expectations when Arik Sharon was elected to bring security after Ehud Barak's horrendous term as Prime Minister, when terrorism was rampant all over the country. And his empty threats had no power and no backing. Then Arik shocked us with Disengagement. Thousands of good Jews are now homeless, jobless.

Now Arik has left the Likud to start a new political party, Kadima, and everyday new revelations, when politicians scamper after his coattails. The latest, and certainly not the last is Shaul Mofaz, no great surprise. A former Chief of Staff, he proved himself no better than his predecessor, Ehud Barak.

And now, just as I'm writing this, the leader of the NRP, Zevulon Orlev, announced that he's in favor of the Jerusalem fence. Now, if you were wondering why he couldn't make a deal with the National Union, it's clear. I guess the Tekuma faction of the NU, which originated in the NRP is going to grow. And The National Religious Party will just fade away, unless Orlev thinks he can get the Meimad vote, which had gone, at least officially, to Labor with Rabbi Melchior.

I want to stress that these revelations don't bother me; they really do make me happy. It is so important to know what the politicians really think. They're like actors playing roles and suddenly they're taking off the masks. Baruch Hashem.

You'd think that it was almost Purim, instead of Chanuka. Purim is the Holiday of "Hester Panim," the hidden face of G-d, when G-d stayed behind the screen but controlled it all. It looked like the Jewish People, from infant to the elderly, would be destroyed, but we weren't. Baruch Hashem we're still here, and Haman's Achashverosh's people aren't.

I don't know what else we'll have to suffer until this is all over, but just like the Maccabees found that little vial of pure oil that stayed lit for eight days, we will survive and our light will continue to burn, G-d willing.

Shavua Tov