Unite!

Folks, Batya of Shiloh Musings, has a very important message to Jews about Israel's current governmental crisis, and the message is unity amongst Israelis (and the Jews in Diaspora, I might add) is critical:

Unite!

The Israeli political system has been evolving over the years, and just as I'm writing this I realize that I've been a "participant" for a majority of those years. We have been here since 1970.

First of all, the Knesset is divided by "proportional representation." That means that you vote for a party/ideology/platform and the 120 seats are divided in proportion to the votes. But it's not that simple, because the minimum percent for a party to be in the Knesset has gone up a lot. It used to be possible for one person to get in as a sole, solitary one-person political party. But now it has gone up and one needs enough percentage points for at least three, or has it been raised since? Sorry, I can't remember.

But this is important. It is now much more difficult for a new party to make a successful showing. That's why massive pressure must be put on Baruch Marzel and Paul Eidelberg to cease their attempts to run for the Knesset as a separate party. They have already run and lost, and it's not just whatever money was wasted. The votes they got would have gone to other patriotic or religious or chareidi parties giving a total of 4-6 extra seats to the block if not more. Instead those seats went to the Likud and Labor. Yes, it's complicated.

B'ezrat Hashem, with G-d's help, the National Religious Party, Mafdal, will join with the Ichud Le'umi, National Union. Former NRP members joined before the last elections.

The NU reminds me of what was the best of the T'chiya Party, which just missed getting back in the Knesset the year that Rabbi Levinger and Daniella Weiss ran for Knesset as a new party. They didn't get in either, causing a massive waste of votes and potential religious & patriotic Knesset Members.

T'chiya included Geula Cohen, Moshe Shamir, Yuval Ne'eman and Channan Porat. It was a wonderful coalition of Jews. I remember once at a T'chiya "chug bayit," "parlour meeting," someone asked Geula if T'chiya was a religious party. Her answer was: "No, it's a Jewish Party." And that's what we need again.

And we need a Jewish Government with Jewish Values. And most of all we need UNITY. And in order to unify, sometimes you have to compromise on details.

We all need to vote for and support a political party with a clear vision. This vision must be of Jewish settlement in all of the Land of Israel. We must take responsibility for our own security and not rely on any other country or international body. It is better to develop our own industry, rather than accepting coupons (foreign aid.) By becoming economically independent, we will reduce unemployment, thereby getting fiscally stronger at the same time.

Jewish and World History has proven over and over that we cannot count on any other country, people or international organization to save ourselves.

Not only Ariel Sharon and other left-wing politicians have been saying they want to, or are willing to, give our Land, most of what remains of Judea and Samaria to the Arabs. Almost all of the Likud politicians, including Bibi, Uzi and Sharansky, will give Land away "when the Arabs agree to..." and some, even if they don't. Remember who supported Disengagement or sat by passively as Jewish homes, schools, businesses and lives were destroyed. Yes, lives, because today the vast majority of Disengagement victims are homeless and jobless. Family dynamics have changed for the worse. The results will take their time to fully show. G-d forbid.

We need strong leaders who are ready to contribute to our country without being "party head" or even members of Knesset. This isn't the time for egos. It's the time to contribute whatever we can.

Let's focus on what's really important. Let's save our country, our Land and our People! UNITE!!

Please click here to read Batya's insightful blog, Shiloh Musings.