Israeli Elections Musings #6, Likud Primaries, 2026, Why I didn't Vote

As the upcoming Israeli Elections get closer, the situation gets more confusing, especially for those watching from afar. I'm right here and not confused about how things work. I just am utterly undecided about which party to vote for. I couldn't even choose candidates in the recent Likud Primaries.

There were lots of articles about those who "won" and "lost" safe spots in the Likud Primaries last week. What I didn't see were any interviews with those of us, the 40 plus percent of Likud members who didn't vote in the primaries. I'm a very, very veteran member of Likud, as I first joined even before the Likud as we know it today even existed. In 1970 I proudly, as a good Betari, had joined Herut. Over the decades I always voted in the primaries as the party grew and expanded into Likud. Yes, even when not voting Likud in National Elections.

This year I searched through what I could find about the various candidates to see who voiced opinions, policies and plans I agree with. A couple of MKs who seemed possibilities left the party looking for greener, or should I say brighter blue and white,  pastures. I certainly couldn't find the dozen needed for my vote to count. 

What was I looking for? I just had two very necessary priorities.

1- a candidate brave enough to say that Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu is a failure. His rule has just brought us war, which started long before October 7, 2023 and we're further away from victory than ever before. Simply put: Bibi must be replaced immediately

2- we have to fight to win ניצחון מוחלט, absolute total victory causing our enemies to surrender and be destroyed

I didn't hear that from anyone at all. That's why I didn't vote in the Likud Primaries, and I'm still horrendously undecided about which party will get my vote in the national Knesset Elections.

Who agrees with me? Please share if you do... 

Celebrating Yom Aliyah Day

Last year I celebrated Yom Aliyah Day by officially performing stand up for the first time, something I could cross of my "bucket list." This year my husband and I attended a Betar-Likud event to which immigrants/olim from all over the world were invited.

photo taken by Yisrael Medad, from Betar blog

It was in a Netanya hotel, and I found us places to sit at a table that had a sign saying "English" on it. Other tables had Spanish and French signs. We ended up sitting with some old friends from American Betar and our shlichut, youth work job in London.

We enjoyed the rendition of Betar songs by the young band that performed. And, of course, it was nice to get together with old friends. Not everyone at our table knew enough Hebrew to understand the speeches, which was a shame. There should have been some multilingual greetings to make them feel truly welcome.

Many of my closest friends here in Israel are olim, immigrants. We come from wide and varied backgrounds. Everyone contributes to the flavor of life in Israel, like the holy Biblical ketoret, which was a combination of a wide variety of "fragrances," some ingredients being very bitter on their own. But mixed in the recipe that Gd instructed, they combined into something exquisite. That is our life here in Israel, Israeli society.

We feel very privileged to be in this wonderful time, when we see the fulfilment of Gd's promises to the Jewish People. I have no doubt that things will get even better. Jews, join us for your own sake, לך לך, Come to the Holy Land to live with us.

All except one, photos by me, Batya Medad

For a Good Jewish Theological Discussion, You Need Hebrew!

Last night I had a very frustrating time at our monthly Shabbat Mevorchim Melava Malka, Post Shabbat study and nosh event, that we've been having on the Saturday nights after the Shabbat when the upcoming new Jewish Month has been announced in shul.

The rabbi who led it conducted a discussion, not a lecture, which he began by summarizing the story Chazal (our sages) say that before birth we have all the knowledge possible about Torah and Judaism, but as we're being born an angel kisses us and seals it or removes it. Then he asked us for our personal opinions about Passover and חרות Cherut, Freedom. Yes, he defined it as "freedom." Now that bothered me a lot. By defining חרות Cherut as Freedom, he was giving חרות Cherut  a meaning, which it may not really have.

Israel's old Right newspaper had been called חרות

Most of the participants were of the generation raised and came to age in the late 1960's, when "freedom" had all sorts of political connotations, and they tried to get those to mesh with Passover. I felt that the discussion was totally off-track, because I wanted it to be based on the linguistic meaning in Hebrew of חרות, but I guess I was in the minority on this.

I don't see any "freedom" in the way we celebrate and prepare for Passover. Actually it's the opposite. The way most of us prepare is so anti-Freedom, so pathologically OCD, it drives people from religion.

That's why I insisted on getting to the root of חרות. That brought me to what to me is the most crucial and important line in the entire Passover Hagaddah:

עבדים היינו לפרעה במצרים עתה עתה בני חורין
Avodim hayinu liparoh bamitzrayim; atta bnai chorinWe were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt ; now we are "free?"

It's the statement that expresses opposite status. "Avodim liparoh bamitzrayim" versus "bnai chorin." which is commonly translated as "slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt" versus "free." Pretty much everybody stresses the "slavery" part and then gives the opposite of slavery as freedom, but I keep thinking, yes for years, that the crucial aspect of this is not the economic slavery but the fact that we had to obey the whims of the Egyptian leader and the opposite "bnai chorin" would mean that we now must obey Gd.

This would take the entire story someplace else and not at all to "freedom" as commonly depicted. This brings us to the Torah and Gd's commandments. It makes more sense and then all the kitchen cleaning and special ways of cooking mean that instead of the readily available food (chametz) given to the Jewish slaves by Pharaoh, we Jews have to rid ourselves and our homes of that and eat the food Gd commands us to eat and prepare. In the Wilderness when transitioning between slavery in Egypt and building a new Jewish society in the HolyLand, after we prepared the quick matzot, spelled like Mitzvot, Gd gave us the mahn.

Passover is not a matter of slavery versus freedom at all! Passover is the transition from following man's law to following G'd's Laws.

It took me a whole night of sleep for this to jell or "leaven." What do you think?

Here's the Atara Snowbell response to the question:  Guest Post by Atara Snowbell on חרות Herut

Flying El Al During Time of War, I Have....

Over twenty years ago, in the middle of the Gulf War my husband and I were scheduled to fly to England for the weekend. He had been invited to be guest speaker at a Shabbat in Bournemouth by Herut, England, and the invitation was prestigious enough for me to be part of the deal.

Shiloh wasn't targeted during that war, and our older kids were pretty old, National Service and high school, so there was no way I'd give up that fully paid weekend vacation. At the airport "passport control" the clerk gave me a funny look and said:

"Did you leave your children?"

I  thought she was about to call the police and have me arrested for child abuse.

That was a very strange and pathetic one-sided war. Iraq launched missiles at Israel, and we hid in "safe rooms." I taped the windows of the master bedroom and the kids slept with us, when necessary. Nothing landed even close enough to be counted, and many neighbors hosted friends and family who were in real danger.

El Al was the only airline flying in and out of Israel. So, that's what we took, and I think that Herut, England would have booked us on El Al even if there hadn't been a war going on.

It wasn't a routine flight. As the plane began ascending, we suddenly felt it jerking right. Yes, you guessed it. The pilot, as most El Al pilots are, was experienced in taking evasive action, though I doubt that his training was on large passenger planes. He did it correctly, or I wouldn't be alive to tell the story.

Days (and Nights) of Action, Can't Keep a Good Jewish Activist Down

Last week we attended an amazing book launch at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.  For forty 40 plus years the Jewish activists of Herut/Likud Great Britain haven't given up.  According to the calendars, they maybe forty years older, but I couldn't see any signs of age, besides greyer hair on some.

We became privileged to know them, when my husband was chosen to be the first shaliach sent to work with their Betar Zionist youth movement from 1975-77.  We lived in London during that time.  And since our return to Israel, some of them have made aliyah, and we've remained very close friends.

During the time we were in London, we joined their efforts to free Soviet Jewry, especially Natan Sharansky who had been jailed by the Soviets.  His wife Avital became a frequent visitor to London and they were both at the book launch to thank the late George Evnine, Eric Graus and others for all of the help they gave during that long, painful struggle to free Sharansky and see him safe and sound in Israel.

Natan and Avital Sharansky with Rosaly Evnine

Eric Graus, autographing a book, with Natan Sharansky

Natan Sharansky autographing a book.

There was a massive crowd of people in attendance. 

Joe, on the left (of the picture)

The event and book, of over six hundred pages, jam-packed with photos, articles and programs and more, was a labor labour of love done by Joe Gellert who has worked with Eric Graus for decades running Herut-Likud, Great Britain.




Other speakers, besides Natan Sharansky, were, Minister Without Portfolio Benny Begin, former MK and Minister Moshe Arens, Eric Graus, Joe Gellert and Steve Rockman.

This was an amazing reunion attended by many British immigrants, who had been members of Herut/Likud and Betar, in addition to some still living in England who came to Israel specially to attend the event.  There were also children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the ever dedicated selfless activists.