Woman of the year

5771 was the year of the woman. Women were at the center of unfolding events, in the middle of the action. One of these deserves the title of woman of the year.

Shelly Yachimovich is an obvious contender. About five and a half years after she traded journalism for politics, she taught more senior and experienced politicians how the game is played. She clashed with Amir Peretz and gave Ehud Barak a run for his money. She also resisted the temptation to join the government or push herself to the front and center of tent protest coverage. She rested on the assumption that the protesters' message would resonate to her advantage in any case.

She acted boldly. When she winked at the settlers, it seemed as though she had lost support in the left flank of the Labor party, which turned out in large numbers at the primaries to express their indignation. But in the end she vanquished her rivals while leaving a statesmanlike impression on the larger public. What seemed like a gaffe to her immediate rivals is an advantage among voters as a whole, who already support her in greater numbers than Kadima, according to a poll by professor Camil Fuchs published in Ha'aretz.

All of this borders on the unbelievable. From the host of a radio show called "It's all talk," Yachimovich has become all action.

But the goal is still distant and Labor remains a small party. Yachimovich made her mark in an arena of secondary importance. That is why she is not the woman of the year.

A candidate of a different stripe who wasn't seeking nomination is the wife of the former chief of general staff, Ronit Ashkenazi. The woman who exchanged the 1,500 text messages with Boaz Harpaz and constantly strategized ways to help her husband in his rivarly with Ehud Barak and designated successor Yoav Galant -- to the point where she urged Harpaz to submit a complaint against him to Micha Lindenstrauss -- Ronit Ashkenazi was the woman behind the man at the center of a public scandal.

"That guy" -- she said to Harpaz, referring to her husband -- wants to speak to you on a landline. This was after the police investigation had already been launched.

The States Attorney Moshe Lador told Ayala Hasson --the most prominent journalist of 5771 -- that Gabi Ashkenazi's conduct was embarrassing. Any wife of a top official who takes such a great interest in affairs of state tends to garner harsh criticism. From Paula Ben Gurion to Sarah Netanyahu, the media tend to condemn dysfunctional spousal involvement.

In spite of everything, Gabi Ashkenazi is still highly popular and his wife Ronit came out of the scandal relatively unscathed. The impression she made on public opinion is weaker than her alleged misconduct. She isn't the woman of the year either.

The obvious candidate whom no one can surpass is Daphne Leef. She is the woman of the year beyond a doubt. All because of the little tent peg she hammered into the ground on Rothschild Boulevard. It was just a peg, but it was the first one.

When Daphne Leef set up her protest tent in the middle of the boulevard she could not have imagined in her wildest dreams how far the protest would go, even though some organizers, like Eldad Yaniv, correctly predicted that it would evolve into a prolonged summer event that would continue until the holidays. Following Manuel Trajtenberg's report, it could very well continue after the holidays.

The protest movement was dramatic and unprecedented. Naturally, or in spite of herself, Leef took her place at its helm. She rode the bull and there were moments when it seemed she would be thrown off.

Many historical figures who lit the match that ignited a historical fire did not stay around to see the fire at its peak. Leef is not one of them. She is still here.

She also dodged a few bullets. The biggest of these was a letter signed in the handwriting of her youth called for conscientious objection to IDF service. She told reporters that she didn't remember the letter. Just like an experienced politician.

The fate of the protest is unclear. A new party could arise, though the election of Yachimovich has made it unnecessary. There is no guarantee that the various groups comprising the protest movement can sign a joint platform or know who will want to join forces with them and why.

The 25-year-old woman of the year could be a one-hit wonder. What if she remains a private citizen? What if she ceases to attract the attention of the camera, spotlight and microphone? What if Daphne Leef is demoted from the headlines to the gossip pages, where reports revealed who she shared a beer with in a pub? Has the drug of publicity entered her veins? Will she tire of it eventually? The world is full of examples in either direction.

Either way, this year belongs to Leef. Gloria mundi. She has had her fifteen minutes of fame, which no one can take away from her. On the other hand, the media is ruthless. It chews people up and spits them out. It is unclear if all those preoccupied with her today will care about where she is spending the holiday next Rosh Hashana.

Trajtenberg vs. Trajtenberg

The Second Lebanon War was a strategic defeat for Israel. The IDF's performance was disappointing and a committee headed by David Brodet was set up to examine our long-term national security needs.

Its members found that over the next decade, the IDF will come up 130 billion shekels short. They tasked the army with increasing efficiency and saving NIS 30 billion, and promised them an additional NIS 100 billion on top of the current budget. The General Staff was not happy, but consoled itself with the fact that its commanders would have the peace of mind of knowing exactly what they had been allocated. It would spare them ther annual humiliation of knocking on the door of the Finance Ministry and begging for an airplane wing or ration of canned beef. One of the members of that committee was professor Manuel Trajtenberg.

Now, five years after the war's end, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Dr. Yuval Steinitz agreed between themselves to cut NIS 3 billion from the IDF's budget next year. They followed the Trajtenberg committee's recommendation in doing so. Has the professor changed his spots?

The cut constitutes a serious blow to our national security. It could affect the Iron Dome system. It could damage our air force's strike capability. Our air force is already training less than it should and another budget cut could erode its military fitness. Certainly, diminished training was one of the main reasons for our 2006 failure in Lebanon.

Furthermore, let's not get caught up in the nonsense that the IDF shouldn't be in the conversion business. (Why not? Perhaps because some people are not interested in preserving Israel's Jewish character-). Should we dismantle the last melting pot of Israeli society in favor of an employee military, an Israeli version of the foreign legion?

A budget cut like this detracts from Israel's security needs, in shekels. Why then should America, which is up to its neck in economic troubles, continue to fund the IDF in dollars? It constitutes a blow to the Arrow missile program. It is an invitation to Iran to provoke Israel.

It's surprising that Ehud Barak at the start of the protest said he would be willing to cut the defense budget to help fund reforms. He said this in his role as head of the Independence Party, not as the defense minister.

How would the budget cut help? By undermining the intelligence unit whose brilliant veterans go on to work in Israeli high-tech, making it Israel's most profitable and export-oriented economic sector? Or perchance by weakening Israel Aircraft Industries, Elbit and Rafael, which employ Israel's technological elite? But if the IDF does not buy those companies' products, many countries around the world will refrain from doing so as well.

The main thing, and this is really the main thing, is that we are surrounded by a "gathering storm" the expression Winston Spenser Churchill used to describe Britain's situation on the eve of World War II.

When the Brodet committee started its work, no birds chirped on Mt. Sinai and the Jordan River flowed calmly. The Intifada was a memory, Hizbullah had withdrawn into itself, and Turkey was an ally. Now everything has reversed. No one knows where the Egyptian Arab Spring is going, and in what timeframe. Turkey is trying to stir up conflcit with Israel, Syria will end neither well nor badly but differently, Jordan is quivering and the Palestinians refuse to arrive at a settlement.

Under these circumstances, it behooves us to preserve the defense budget. But the Finance Ministry's imperialism is insatiable. Finance Minister Steinitz believes he knows better than anyone else what to acquire and what not to, and the bureaucrats want every airplane wing to by subject to their stamp of approval. And I, who have seen close-up how, like simpletons out of their depth, they push themsleves into areas of decisionmaking of which they understand nothing, I am convinced that Israel has lost its compass.

We have to hope that at the end of the day, wisdom will overcome petty bean counting and the money will flow back into the veins of national security. But if not, I suggest that Steinitz and his bureaucrats take responsibility, that they accept emergency appointments as as generals in the next war. See you at the next Brodet Committee hearings in a few years, following our next war.

Abu Mazen refuses to commit

Lecturing this week to French speakers, Dan Meridor claimed that Mahmoud Abbas has abandoned two planes: terrorism against Israel and peace negotiations with us. Instead he has entered the ring of diplomacy and international law in the hope of getting everything from Israel while committing to nothing.

According to Dr. Yossi Beilin, who knows the Palestinian leader well, he is close to retirement. At the U.N. building in New York he ensured his legacy, and a tall monument in Ramallah. Someone less authoritative will fill his place. Perhaps General Rajoub.

Mahmoud Abbas always came close to peace with Israel, but never touched it. As has been said often, he fled from Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert when they offered him generous peace proposals. In addition, for years he has ignored the document he signed with Beilin stipulating that the village of Abu Dis will be called Jerusalem and serve as the capital of Palestine.

A man who announces that the land of Israel is sacred to Muslims and Christians and leaves out Jews; a man who tries to mislead people into thinking we are digging under the al-Aqsa mosque as if thousands of people hadn't toured the area and seen with their own eyes that this is not true; a man who speaks of 63 years of occupation as if Baka al-Arabiya and Umm al-Fahm, cities within Israel, are "occupied territories" -- such a man is not a seeker of peace.

Netanyahu successfully routed his U.N. attack. Now Abu Mazen is trapped in his refusal to conduct negotiations based on the new Quartet initiative. Even the American formula is not acceptable to him. But the world points an accusatory finger at Israel. If I were in Netanyahu's place, I would agree to conduct negotiations based on the 1967 lines but with recognition of Israel as the "state of the Jewish people."

There are two possible scenarios, and it is incumbent on Netanyahu to seriously consider both. The first is that under the circumstances described above, and contrary to my impression, Abbas will want (and be able to) make peace. That would be so dramatic, that no Israeli leader can take responsibility for rejecting the possibility. The decision would have to be put to the people.

The second and more likely scenario is that a man does not transform himself at the age of 76, and Abu Mazen, who thwarted peace with Barak, Olmert and even Yossi Beilin will do the same with Netanyahu. A redeemer will come to Zion, in the form of Netanyahu, and unfortunate result will be a rift.

Behold, days are coming

In 5771, the skies darkened, but it is the nature of light is to burst forth from the darkness. "Behold, days are coming," a longtime reader wrote, quoting Scripture, in a Rosh Hashana greeting he sent me. "that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt...And I will turn the captivity of My people Israel and I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them" (Amos 9). The words of the prophet from Tekoa, Amen, and happy New Year.

טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו