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Why Israel must move to national unity

The claim is made that the Israeli public took a sharp jump to the right in last month’s general election, with Ariel Sharon’s Likud receiving 40 out of 120 seats in the Knesset – Israel’s parliament. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The four-million Israeli voters, or those that actually turned out, quite definitely voted for the center, or even center left.

The out-and-out hawkish party, the National Union, struggled to receive the same number of seats it did in 1999 – a paltry seven, while the other far-right party, Herut, failed to cross the electoral threshold.

But what about the National Religious Party and its jump from five to six seats, I hear some readers ask.

Well, the NRP can hardly claim to be a rightist party these days. Of its six Knesset members, only two can be said to be overtly hawkish, and one of those, party leader Effie Eitam, was only appointed a few months before the election with the specific purpose in mind of making the party seem more attractive to the political right – a tactic that did not bear fruits, so much so that there are moves within the NRP to depose Eitam.

So to the other traditionally rightist party – the Likud. True it won 40 Knesset seats. However, one need only look at the policies of party leader Ariel Sharon to realize the Likud is a centrist party. It was made perfectly clear to all voters that Sharon wanted to form a national-unity government with the avowedly dovish Amram Mitzna and his Labor Party. Furthermore, Sharon had made it clear he intended negotiating with the Palestinians and spoke of “painful compromises.” These are not the words of a hawk or even a center-rightist.

The people gave Sharon 40 seats, Mitzna 19 and the clearly centrist Shinui party 15. The doves of Meretz garnered a similar number of votes to the National Union. And all this, to say nothing of the Arab parties and the center-left Workers Party. At least two-thirds of Israelis voted for the center or left-wing parties.

The idea that Israel voted right, as bandied about by political pundits, is a myth and must be dismissed as such.

An alleged rightist government including the Likud, National Union, National Religious Party and the two ultra-religious parties would not reflect the will of the people. Israelis overwhelmingly backed territorial compromise and a more secular society. As Mr. Sharon enters the detailed stage of coalition-building negotiations he must listen to the electorate.