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| Amir Peretz after his victory (AP) |
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Moti Karpel is Founder of Manhigut Yehudit, whose website is www.jewishisrael.org
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By Moti Karpel
November 15, 2005
Moshe Feiglin has been advocating it for five years ... and newly elected Labor party chairman Amir Peretz did it in eleven months. In his concept-shattering coup last week for the head position in the Labor party, Peretz nonchalantly applied Manhigut Yehudit's strategy.
He didn't have hundreds of thousands of citizens demonstrating on his behalf. He didn't bring 50,000 loyal supporters to Kfar Maimon. He didn't even need the 40,000 votes that would add up to one mandate in the Knesset elections. He simply brought 20,000 supporters from the party he previously headed (One Nation), registered them as Labor members and sent them to vote in the Labor primaries.
With 20,000 votes already in his pocket, Peretz garnished another 7,000 from other Labor party members, many of whom identify with his Labor-like policies, and triumphed.
Only 27,000 votes made him the head of the Labor party and a realistic candidate for the seat of Prime Minister of Israel.
Peretz did it with finesse. His voters are interested in one thing. Political victory. That's it. They are the labor union people, concerned with salaries and working conditions. If they had a problem with some of Labor's policies, they didn't let it bother them. They understood the simple reality. With their man at the helm, they will be in the perfect position to reform Labor's policies to suit their own interests.
Feglin's constituency, on the other hand, are the belief based public -- people who want to see a Jewish state in the complete Land of Israel. And here is where the going gets tough. These are people who are looking for perfection -- in the Land of Israel, in their Jewish faith and in all that they do. The Likud is far from perfect. And they don't want anything to do with it. Even if they know that by joining they could easily take over the Likud -- many of whose members whole-heartedly support their ideas -- and set their own agenda.
Not that the belief-based public isn't willing to make sacrifices. They are more than ready to do whatever it takes. They will encircle the fences of Kfar Maimon for days and nights if that is what needs to be done. For the sake of the Land of Israel, they will be willing to once again follow the Yesha Council on treks throughout the fields of the Negev. They will blow the shofars, shatter heaven's gates with their prayers, fight, block roads, refuse orders, get arrested, love and hug their destroyers.
But they won't do what Peretz's people did, and sign up for the Likud.
A famous Chassidic parable perfectly describes this phenomenon. A Chassid approached his Rabbi and tearfully explained that for years he has been praying intensely that G-d should make him the winner of the lotto, but to no avail. "Why are you complaining about G-d?" asked the Rabbi. "Did you ever buy a ticket???"
No ticket, no chance of victory.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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