Right must speak Hebrew, not Yeshivish

How ironic it is that the temporary name of Ariel Sharon's new party is "National Responsibility."  

It's a stupid name, when we bear in mind that its chief candidate has conducted an irresponsible, not exactly 'national,' policy. It would have been more appropriate to call it the Scorched Earth Party, for this is the situation left behind by the man who disengaged from Gaza and expelled the residents he sent there; who disengaged and washed his hands of the child he created; who disengaged from the platform he, himself, created.

It's not surprising that one on of Sharon's new cronies is Chaim Ramon, another man who is no stranger to a scorched earth policy: As head of the Histadrut (Labor Federation) he pulverized the once-powerful organization and sapped it's power; as health minister he dealt a lethal blow to the health system, so today people must pay more to receive fewer heath benefits; as Shimon Peres' chief-of-staff in 1996, he oversaw his candidate's loss to Benjamin Netanyahu; as an indefatigable demagogue he has overseen the waste of millions of shekels on a "security" fence that is both dangerous and unnecessary.

Sharon was elected to lead the country to victory in the Olso War. As opposed to the mandate he received from the people in two separate elections, he brought the person mainly responsible for the Oslo War into his government, appointed him deputy prime minister, and carried out his dangerous policy.

This is a war that official Israel has never recognized as such, or even its responsibility to win it.

Not about settlements

The fight is not, and has never been, about settlement in Judea and Samaria, or even about residents of those areas and their homes. It is about the basic existence and right of the State of Israel to exist in the Land of Israel.

This definition of struggle requires radical change and strategic change in the language we use in order to save Zionism. The strategy that has been employed up to now is in error, and is used as a weapon in the hands of anti-Zionists.

The expression "soul searching" occasionally appears in the public arena, even though most time people don't really mean it. The most obvious example is the manner in which the right-wing camp conducted itself after the "disengagement" and in anticipation of elections.

Contacts between different factions in the religious- Zionist world proves the lessons of Summer 2005 have not been learned: Once again, Knesset members and wheelers-and-dealers are full of high talk about "the whole Land of Israel,” but play into Sharon's hands, who proved to the world he is the only one that can carry out the political will of the left-wing.

Radical change required

The reality this created requires radical changes in the national camp in the face of two left-wing parties – Ariel Sharon's and Amir Peretz's - arousing from their hibernation. It requires joint teamwork by the real right-wing.

It requires teamwork from people such as Benjamin Netanyahu, Uzi Landau and Aryeh Eldad, who have the power to form a dam to block the tsunami from the left.

Character assassination and incitement against right wing politicians and journalists from the radical left, who will try to isolate the "settlers"; to crucify them as a fringe minority trying to impose its will on a majority of Israelis; to slander them as parasites leeching off Israel and led by extremist rabbis, who are trying to turn an enlightened democracy into a black, halachic (Jewish law) state.

But instead of joining together to present a real alternative to Sharon and the rest of the left, the strategy and the language being used by the political camp to the right of the Likud sounds like an election contest between two competing National Religious Parties that ignores a majority of the Land of Israel faithful.

Including secular right-wingers

I'm speaking about the "secular," who don't form very much of a presence at right-wing rallies, but who form a decisive force on Election Day.

The Orthodox Knesset members to the right of the Likud are drunk with the notion they could win 20 seats in the coming elections, if current polls are correct.

But the truth is that if they continue on their current path and refuse to line up behind a leader who has proven himself as such and has proven his ability to appeal to non-kippa wearing voters, those hopes will come to naught. There is no place for "business as usual," or "wheelers-and-dealers as usual."

In the past, Shinui's Avraham Poraz displayed the necessary political wisdom and nobility to step down and allow Yosef Lapid to lead his party, a move that led the party to great success.

Will the leaders of the National Religious Party and the National Union display the same positive characteristics? Or will they continue to quarrel and compete for votes from a limited constituency, instead of joining together into one large camp against Sharon-Peretz–Meretz?

NRP-speak

In Israel's political reality, when the polarization between right and left is presented – erroneously and tendentiously – as an extension of the polarization between religious and secular Israelis, there is a desperate need for non-observant politicians to assume leading roles in the right-wing party.

On the other hand, consolidating the right-wing list on a purely religious constituency (nine of the 10 Knesset members currently representing the National Union and National Religious Party are religious) and almost entirely on the settlers, will only deepen the extant image of the right, an image that stirs up antagonism even amongst non-observant Israelis who believe in the whole Land of Israel. These are the voters that will tip the scales.

It is not redundant to point out that it this community forms most of the voting public. Only by creating a Zionist camp can we provide an address that will attract throngs of voters, religious and secular alike.

The fight against transfer failed, in part because the group running the struggle was the Yesha Council. The flawed picture portrayed as a struggle that concerned only the West Bank and Gaza, rather than millions of Jews inside the "Green Line," as if this were not their struggle, too.

Presenting a forward line served the interests of pullout supporters, who tried to present the settlement enterprise as an insignificant minority. The struggle against expulsion failed, amongst other reasons, because of the feeling that the issue was divorced from the secular majority that supports the settlement enterprise.

The language of the struggle was NRP-ish, rather than Hebrew, the massive protest three-weeks before the expulsion began started at the grave of the Baba Sali, and the entire tenor of the demonstrations was religious.

The character of the struggle alienated the secular majority in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. After that happened, it was tough to broadcast the message to other Israelis that the struggle was one of Israelis fighting for their country, rather than some "occupation."

A new strategy and a new language are absolutely essential if we are to succeed. Broad sections of the Declaration of Independence, a common denominator for most Israelis, which barely have any religious wording, can serve as an important tool when creating this language.

We must change tack, and begin to speak in a language secular Israelis can understand. We must remember that the struggle is not merely for Judea and Samaria or about the religious community.

Rather, this is about millions of Israelis between the river and the sea, most of them secular, with Jewish identities, even if they don't wear kippot or observe Shabbat.

Dr. Ron Breiman is the head of Professors for a Strong Israel