This past weekend caught me in Paris. There, too, there is a great deal of interest in our elections, and virtually every French media outlet has dispatched a team to cover the developments. The esteemed newspaper Le Monde devoted a feature story to Netanyahu in its recent weekend supplement ("Netanyahu against the erosion of power"), with a large accompanying photograph of the prime minister. I had naively thought that we -- during the Netanyahu era -- were no longer of interest to anyone. Yet another bluff; the opposite is true. It's uncertain, incidentally, that Israelis actually like this. Europe prefers a left-wing government in Israel. From the Europeans' perspective, the Israeli Left has an exclusivity on peace, even if reality has proven to be different. The matter of our security is rather secondary in Europe. The claim increasingly voiced by different parties recently, whereby the international community wants Netanyahu to lose these elections, is indeed correct. Many around the globe want a revolution, no less than Tzipi Livni (Le Monde happily quoted her has disregarding Netanyahu's warnings against Iran's nuclear program). Is hatred of Netanyahu the root of this desire, or a love of PA President Mahmoud Abbas? Apparently it's a little of both. Le Monde doesn't understand why the matter of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations has been pushed to the wayside in this election campaign, and how this issue has been erased from the national agenda. The French paper is fair enough to point out that even the Left no longer dares present itself as the "peace camp." In other words, to win elections in Israel these days you're better off not discussing concessions. To win, you need to appear Left while actually being Right. The concessions will come later. A direct connection between European countries and left-wing movements working in Israel to replace the government, among them V15 (the connection to the U.S. administration is pending a Senate investigation) has yet to be proven, but it's hard to ignore the considerable desire in some world capitals to see Netanyahu depart. After all, everyone believes or pretends to that before Netanyahu there were no wars, and that the Middle East was awash with roses instead of guns. They also forgot that their tendentious anti-Israel voting wasn't born with Netanyahu. Tomorrow Israelis will vote. It is a profound privilege for every citizen in Israel. All around us countries are falling apart. Some of those countries, according to the predictions of some among us, were supposed to be our friends by now. Meanwhile, we are about to add another chapter to the democratic story of our nation. The younger among us, who will vote for the first time, consider it a given, but that isn't the case. In our tumultuous Middle East, nothing should be taken for granted. Some will cast their ballots with thoughts of pudding costs; others will ponder their inability to buy an apartment. Some will vote in favor of the settlement enterprise; others will think of the country's security. As far as love of the country, none of them have exclusivity. The culminating campaign devolved into cheap electioneering. The prime minister was often presented as the father of all ills. The world looks at how we treat our leaders, and primarily our neighbors. There is a modicum of ingratitude toward the leader, whether he or she hails from the left or the right. Let us all take a deep breath and focus on what's important: Israel is choosing a leader. It is supposed to be a day of celebration, not a day of getting even. Israel is choosing a leader. Not the world!
