It's wishful thinking to believe that our politicians, especially from Labour & Kadima, can change. They are what they are. All we can do is work to get rid of them. And if we don't, then we will continue on our path to self-destruction. By the way, Mr Sharon would have more credibility if he openly criticised the Gaza disengagement & considering how much inside information he must be privy to, would tell us the truth about why his father changed course so abruptly. I think this "inside information" would be a torpedo aimed directly at both Kadima & Labour.

I don't believe that anybody knows the real reasons that motivated Arik to make the Gaza disengagement , neither Gilad . We just must be aware that this doesn't happen again, with the Golan , and no matter who is the PM. It's time that the people , normal citizens take action , and stopping being so passive.

unfortunately the media and upper eschelons of society are run by members of the "peace" cult who cannot see the obvious and who continue to think that appeasement will bring peace. I wish we could have peace, and would be prepared to sacrifice a great deal for this, but I am not blind, and I can see that Oslo was a disaster and that "peace now" is a 2 way street.

and you will believe their answers???????/the entire government is corrupt. it's disgusting. what has mofaz done as minister of transport. what has livni done (except ruin the MFA) as Minister of FA?????? The only thing that interests them is themselves and NOT the welfare of the country.

...and thecandidates are certain to say one thing and do the other. Thats called "lying" .Gilad Sharon talks sense. He is certainly NOT a chip off the Old (Fathers) block in his latter years.

if he would have KEPT HIS PROMISE BEFORE HE BECAME PRIME MINISTER not to expel the Jews from Gaza. Not only has his brutal expulsion of the Jews from Gaza caused him a personal suffering these past 2.5 years as a Heavenly punishment, but caused lots of damage for the security of the State and gave rise to greater anti-Semitism in the world. The replacement by a powerless spineless coward - just the opposite of the “hawkish” Sharon - was certainly no bonus to the State. AND NOW WE HAVE ENOUGH OF KADIMA! All the candidates from this party are no better than Olmert whose only goal is to appease the Arabs and expel Jews from Jewish territory.

1) Will the leadership candidate be GOOD TO JEWS? 2) Will the leadership candidate have JEWISH MORALS and VALUES? 3) Will the leadership candidate be A G-D FEARING not anti-TORAH JEW?

they r all liars. would you believe a word out of their mouth??????

Why can we not simply tell Hamas that Gaza will get nothing from us - fuel ,electricity, medical supplies, food, NOTHING - until Gilad Shallit is released. If the world screams "collective punishment'" they will know what steps have to be taken to remove it.

Because Labor has several Left wing women who are stronger than Livni. I suspect the Kadima will split with Livni to Meretz. As to primaries, these are jokes. People are buying and selling votes in my neighbourhood.

Have a good look around at the suffering that Bibi Netanyahu's financial policy caused. The elderly picking food out of the trash. People not taking their kids to the dentist because of they can't afford it and the disgrace of the Holocaust Survivors. The strangle that the Treasury has over the country. I am no socialist but I do believe that when it comes to those who cannot (not will not) fend for themselves, that the State does have a responsibility to assist. Stop looking back and trying to blame someone. "If this and if that had been" are not constructive. Look forward and don't expect us to learn from out mistakes because that is not the Israeli Way. Many felt that the Gaza pullout was a good thing and no thought that Sharon would have a stroke and that his successor would be Mr. Teflon! We can all be clever in hindsight. Many can lead, I would never support the Likud, and only time will tell who will succeed and who will fail. The real failure will be another hamstrung national unity government or a stupid general election which will bring back that same lost of self seeking politicians and play into the hands of our enemies. A point about MK Shaul Mofaz. He his just as paranoid as Olmert and his "relationship" with certain transport workers does raise certain questions.

"Not only has his brutal expulsion of the Jews from Gaza caused him a personal suffering these past 2.5 years as a Heavenly punishment" Look here, you miserable medieval unenlightened little person. You will never be the judge on what is and what is not Divine punishment. Don't blame Sharon for the Gaza disengagement, blame yourself and other 'Gush-Emunim' for not heeding Sharon's call decades ago to go and settle Gush Katif. You talk the talk, but do you walk the walk? Sharon was forced into the disengagement by international forces beyond his control, but the purpose of it was to be a 'formaledhyde' to save Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem. As for Sharon's illness, suffice it to say that with his weight, blood pressure, cholesterol level, and diet, anyone could understand this was a disaster waiting to happen. If it were Divine punishment, don't you think it would have happened BEFORE disengagement actually took place?

My criticism was non-partisan although I mentioned Kadima & Labour as the main problem. Our political system is the problem, as I've repeated very often on this forum. So, will Netanyahu change? No. Is he the perfect candidate, the type of leader we really need? No. But, he's electable & he's less likely to make concessions that damage our security. Likud had it's share of corruption scandals - it's all part of the same system. However, Netanyahu's performance as Finance Minister was pretty good, all things considered. The current strength of the economy is in part due to his policies. I won't get into a big discussion on economics as it's too complicated for this forum. As to your comment on hindsight - many people predicted exactly the results of disengagement just as many predicted the poor outcome of previous dealings with the Arabs. I will leave you with one further thought & then I have to get going. No matter how pessimistic you are about any deals with the Arabs, they always find a way to exceed your worst expectations.

Why and on what ground did you not publicized my talkback sent to you today beginning of the afternoon ?

Writing articles is fine,but to be really effective you have to be in a position of power.Run for office, there are a lot of Israeli's who think like you,who need someone to lead them.

Your Talkbacks are not just a lot of verbiage and silly statements like most of the Talkbackers contributions. I do agree with most of your points. However, then Finance Minster Netanyahu's policies were the cause of much hardship for the elderly, the sick and the handicapped. On the other hand, his concept of boosting the economy, i.e. making the rich richer so that they would employ the poor, had merit in theory but it did not take into consideration man's greed and the use of technology to replace the lowly played worker by machines or even move factories to cheaper climes. Of course this is not only a problem in Israel. Another economic point where the Governments of Israel, particularly Likud Administartions, have failed is the neglect of the periphery. You live in Eilat which is a major tourist resort and billions of shekels have been invested in the tourist infrastructure. On the other hand due to political decisions based on the demography of the Galilee, earmarked funds have constantly been diverted from Galilee development to "other" areas. You might be aware that movie mogul Arnon Milchan donated $100 Million for the establishment of a university in Karmiel. This project "disappeared" due to right wing (Likud) objection to it as it would benefit a certain sector of the population! So, if you are earning a good wage and live in the center of land , well, good on Netanyahu! If you are are like the rest of us, please excuse us for not joining the Bibi Fan Club!

she was my teacher it was befor 50 years evry day she write on the bord -tomorrow your duties are -one second ...... and when it is off day she wrote after tomorrow and the first ..second and so on she advised us to go to bath room in rest time no one would be out in the study time .i think she was a good teacher at that time .. but sure it was before 50 years and we were children and students not enemies

Shamefully he is responsible to the mess we are in. Bombing empty field in gaza, expelling our sisters and brothers from their homes, etc, etc, etc...