The mystery hovering over the heads of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid is what level of cooperation actually exists between the two, especially over what the finance minister has called "the war" for our national economy. If they are trying to trip each other up or force each other into a corner, then Histadrut labor federation Chairman Ofer Eini and United Torah Judaism's Moshe Gafni will end up taking over the government. But if Netanyahu acts firmly, as he did when he was finance minister in 2004, then he and Lapid will lead a difficult but winnable battle. In the end, they will face the dilemma of victory: Which of the two deserves greater credit for the achievements- Netanyahu was wrapped up on Wednesday in the economic philosophy of Theodor Herzl, whose 153rd birthday falls next week, and called for increased competition and the downfall of monopolies. Lapid clashed with the ultra-Orthodox and with Eini, and the Histadrut chairman was quick to declare an imminent strike across the entire market. A responsible public would have tried to put the brakes on Eini, to tell him, "Slow down, you don't need to use that stun gun you hold every chance you get." Lapid talked about bringing the Ashdod port back into a competitive market. Netanyahu said exactly the same thing during his term as finance minister in former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government. Netanyahu still deserves credit for his achievements of nearly a decade ago, and now Lapid is adopting some of the same roads to success today. The task ahead of them is insufferable. Cries of injustice will scream to the skies. Temporary injustice will be done to the old lady in the hospital ward, the child at school, the soldier out in the field, the hard-pressed high-tech employee, but we have no choice. We need to change our priorities: An ultra-Orthodox man who evades military duty will not get allowances; housing benefits will be given for efforts made to earn a salary, not for having a large family. This is a tough fight to lead because most readers who are cheering Netanyahu and Lapid at the moment will abandon them when the curtains rise and reveal single mothers raising their children without assistance, invalids suffering without medication, and the victims of crime resulting from an underfunded police force. It's mainly difficult for the leaders of the struggle from a psychological standpoint because, standing at the middle of the long road, the end is still nowhere in sight. But there's no other way to save Israel, and, as Naomi Shemer sang, "When you start moving -- things get going." The gratefulness comes later. There are dividends, but they'll be paid out late. Netanyahu and Lapid must remember: The public will support them as long as the two don't turn their backs on the public; as long as they don't favor the wealthy -- those who sit atop the pyramids with their debtors' haircuts and loans that aren't returned to pension funds; and as long as the arduous tasks ahead of them don't threaten their obligations to the rule of law. Above all, they need to force our leaders to become examples of modesty and austerity. This is the pact between the public and the government; it's up to Netanyahu and Lapid to decide whether or not to accept it.
