Some on the Right, who belong to the parliamentary majority dubbed "the right-wing camp," have been lamenting the so-called dire political straits they are in. "We have been in power for 30 years but we are not 'in control,'" is one common refrain. Not only that, they protest, the Right's old-guard subscribe to a stale ideology that is now obsolete and they have no idea how to govern, or worse, do not want to govern. These grumblers are blind to the failure of their traditional rivals. The Left's representation in the Knesset has dwindled and is just a small minority; socialism has been out of favor as an economic system for years now; only a small number of people still believe that peace and security are within reach given the current Arab leadership in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip; about 600,000 Jews currently reside "outside the Green Line" [demarcating Israel's border with Jordan prior to the Six-Day War]. Get the Israel Hayom newsletter sent to your mailbox! But there are still "left-wing collaborators in the Likud," one bitter and frustrated hero told me last week. "They frustrate every piece of legislation put forth by the national camp," he said, citing "veteran and experienced ministers who knowingly cater to the Left with the insight they believe they have gained over the many hours they have logged in politics." With their repeated calls for a "governing Right" these political gluttons are actually referring to a completely different thing: "unchecked right-wing rule." I have recently also heard several friends reminiscing on the state's early years: "Mapai people [the dominant left-wing party at the time] really knew how to govern." Indeed the rulers back then thought they had unlimited power. Their decision to impose military rule over the Arab-Israeli community for 16 years (!) did not satisfy their hunger and they went even further. This feeds into a sad truism that is just part of human nature, be it on the Right or on the Left. An unchecked majority tends to steam roll others. If the majority fails to understand that it must restrain itself, we must introduce measures to check it and see that they are followed. This moral imperative applies not only to a helpless minority but also to those who are part of the majority that remembers something from Democracy 101. Indeed, Likud cabinet members have been acting quite successfully to shelve or water down harmful bills on the docket; contrary to what some partisan and biased columnists have portrayed, the action we have taken has proven to be an effective firewall against the proposed legislation. We are not doing this behind closed doors, but in the open, and we truly believe that we are heading off a Likud train wreck and sparing Israel from major setbacks. Knowing how to govern entails recognizing the limits of power and the minority's rights. Knowing how to govern means translating into action Hillel the Sage's maxim of treating others the way you would like to be treated. History has shown that a government whose supporters are ashamed of it will ultimately lose its grip on power.
The Jordan Valley and Judea and Samaria are home to about 340,000 of them, with about a quarter living on the biblical Route of the Patriarchs that connects the highest hilltops. Many political office-holders come from the Right. This is also true when it comes to various senior management positions and many other fields in the country.
As Shlomo Nakdimon recently shows in his amazing study, reported by Ha'aretz, the leaders of the "Left" attempted to wipe the small Communist Party of Israel off the political map five years into Israel's independence. Only Supreme Court Justice Shimon Agranat prevented the government from shutting down the party's paper, Kol Ha'am [The People's Voice], and thus saved Israeli democracy in the newly created state.
In other words, it is incumbent upon Likud members to frustrate repeated efforts to introduce a free rein. Many Likud members know full-well where this could lead and still recall their movement's glory days, when it strictly followed basic norms. I am not talking about being magnanimous, but rather being decent. It is not about being just; it is about being smart.
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