The righteous among the rot

Buried in the vortex of shameful opportunists, those who zigzag through changing loyalties from one party to the other for personal gain and stain the name of politics showing the full ugliness of the system, there are five honorable and upright politicians.

Ministers Dan Meridor, Benny Begin and Michael Eitan from the Likud and MK Zevulun Orlev from the New National Religious Party know how to respect and submit to their failures in not reaching high spots in their party primaries. They rejected offers to wade into the shallows of other parties' politics. It is also worth mentioning that Zeev Bielski from Kadima, who proved himself to be a hardworking and dedicated MK, decided to retire, even after he was promised a place at the top of the list, realizing that Kadima will be an insignificant player in the next Knesset, if it even makes it past the electoral threshold.

After his failure in the Likud primaries, Meridor was energetically courted by Tzipi Livni, who offered him a prominent spot on her Knesset list; the late Independence party offered him the lead spot following Defense Minister Ehud Barak's retirement from politics. Internal polls, they assured him, show that Independence is likely to win 12 Knesset seats. But he refused both offers and thus preserved his dignity.

Begin was strongly opposed to the initiative by some members of the Likud Central Committee to petition the Elections Committee to reserve him a realistic seat on the Knesset list. Eitan has also behaved with honor throughout his Knesset career, which began in 1984. He rejected the energetic courtship of representatives from different political parties that offered him a place among them. On his Facebook page, he assured the 11,500 Likud members who placed their confidence in him in party primaries that he would continue to work in the public arena and contribute his experience, despite not being re-elected.

Orlev as well, a diligent and excellent MK for 14 years, did not beg for his life or try to join another political party after he lost in internal New National Religious Party elections. Instead, he retired with dignity.

It is impossible not to admire such behavior, in light of the atmosphere in the political arena, which culminated last week with the submission of all the Knesset lists. It was sad to see veteran and experienced public figures and politicians making any and every effort to get on other parties' lists after failing in their own parties. Transcending all of this behavior were Livni's hitchhikers, Amir Peretz, Amram Mitzna and Meir Sheetrit. Peretz was not satisfied with earning the No. 3 spot on the Labor list and immediately spoke out against Labor Chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich. Mitzna, who until recently was highly regarded for his honesty, responded to Livni despite having once signed a declaration of his continuing support for the Labor Party. Sheetrit, after the collapse of Kadima, was willing to do anything for re-election to the Knesset, whether it was (failed) negotiations with Dor Builders of Israel (the pensioners' party), or what he ended up doing, joining Livni's party, despite showering her with criticism in the past.

We can only hope that members of the younger generation of politicians will follow the path of straight and clean politics as some of their predecessors did.

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