Many years ago, I received a copy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's book, "A Place Among the Nations," signed with a personal message to me. Since then, I have read from it several times and have never had a doubt that Netanyahu, the son of the man who stood by Ze'ev Jabotinsky until his final days, is fiercely loyal to the vision of the Jewish people and its dream to establish its national home in all of the land of Israel. His grandfather, Rabbi Nathan Mileikowsky, a descendant of the Vilna Gaon, and his father spent their lives fighting against the division of Israel -- and that is the legacy they passed on to our prime minister. I do not know whether or not he will succeed in accomplishing this goal, but of one thing I am sure: His faith in the Zionist dream is immeasurably greater than that of those who were "dancing on the blood" in the past few days as they publicized his supposed lack of preparedness and far-reaching concessions. The struggle to safeguard the Jewish people's sovereignty over the entirety of its historical homeland will certainly not be easy. Much determination and patience is required. However, there is one thing I do know: If the camp led by Netanyahu does not come out on top in the elections, we are in for a diplomatic disaster several times worse than the one caused by those who led us to the Oslo Accords. It could happen -- and it could also not happen. It is all in the hands of those who purport to lead the parties included in the right-wing bloc. Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman and Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett may not have been acting out of ill will -- though it is hard to believe -- but their statements over the last few days following the false report in Yedioth Ahronoth that sought to create confusion among the Right certainly remind me of the days leading up to the 1992 elections. Back then, Yitzhak Shamir was up against Yitzhak Rabin -- and it was the leaders of all the tiny political parties that did not meet the electoral threshold who essentially ensured Shamir's failure. At the time, the Right won among the masses of voters, but when it was time to divide the seats, the Left was found to have more seats. Thousands and thousands of votes were wasted due to infighting among the blocs. Yitzhak Shamir, the legendary commander of the Lehi, was not determined enough in the eyes of Geula Cohen and her colleagues. This leads me to the conclusion that we must not repeat the same mistake this time. Whoever thinks that Netanyahu should be the next prime minister must vote directly for the party that he leads, rather than for the people who claim that they will recommend his leadership to the president. I simply do not believe them. The irrepressible desire of Bennett, Lieberman, Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon, Shas leader Aryeh Deri and all the other tricksters to grab votes for the benefit of their own parties reminds me of the days before Oslo. Shamir was unseated and replaced by an unmatched march of folly. Terrorist organizations were allowed to enter the heart of Israel, where they murdered hundreds of Israelis. And now, the Left is promising us a similar nightmare: If only we concede a bit more territory, there will be peace. The Arabs will become peacemakers, and this bloody conflict of more than a century will come to an end. It will certainly be a shame if the leaders on the Right end up being the chief contributors to such a collapse.
The Right must not infight
מערכת ישראל היום
מערכת "ישראל היום“ מפיקה ומעדכנת תכנים חדשותיים, מבזקים ופרשנויות לאורך כל שעות היממה. התוכן נערך בקפדנות, נבדק עובדתית ומוגש לציבור מתוך האמונה שהקוראים ראויים לעיתונות טובה יותר - אמינה, אובייקטיבית ועניינית.
