Once again, Pessach is here! In spite of the massive amounts of energy that we must have to clean our homes and our spirit of Hametz, it is still my favourite time of year. Isn't it great how Jewish festivals are so in sync with the natural calendar (at least if you live in the Northern Hemisphere!)? Where do we get this energy from to clean, purge, and rid ourselves of things we have been accumulating for the past year? I believe it is because we are at the start of the Spring, when we are excited by the longer days, more hours of sunshine, and blossoming of trees and flowers.
Of course Pessach appears now. As a holiday that commemorates the Exodus of the Bnei Yisrael from Egypt and the birth of our nation, it is fitting that it falls during the spring, when everything seems to be born anew. One of the many names of Pessach is Hag Ha'aviv, the holiday of the spring. Now that the regime of Saddam Hussein has ended, let us hope and pray that this Pessach will indeed mark a new beginning, during which the State of Israel and Jews all over the world, will begin to see an improvement in some of the major issues that we face during these difficult years.
I want to briefly outline some of the major issues facing Israel at this time:
1. The political system. The January elections marked a return to the 'old' system last used in 1992, in which Israelis cast one ballot for a political party, and the number of seats each party received in the Knesset was equal to the percentage of the popular vote they received. The two large parties, Likud and Labour, had a total of 84 seats in 1992, and in January, received a total of 57. They still have less than 50% of the seats in the Knesset, and the remaining are divided between 11 smaller parties.
No political system seems to work, so the leader of the party that receives the largest number of votes (Ariel Sharon's Likud party got less than 33% of the vote) must form a coalition in order to effectively govern. Today, Sharon heads a government of 68 MKs in 6 parties (two of whom have merged with others).
There are growing calls to reform the political system. Two of the most popular ideas are to increase the mimimum threshold which parties must cross in order to receive a seat in the Knesset from 1.5% to 5%, and to allow half of the MKs to be elected in geographic constituencies, giving them direct accountability to their voters.
2. Stopping Terrorism Since last Pessach, the IDF has re-entered some of the Area 'A' Palestinian Authority Autonomous Areas in an attempt to stop the terrorist threat to Israelis. The number of terror incidents foiled has increased, and there have been fewer terror attacks within Israel. At the same time, the government has been constructing a separation wall pretty much along the pre-1967 Israel-Jordan border (the 'green line'), believing that such a wall can reduce the influx of terrorists from the West Bank/Judaea and Samaria. Construction began months ago and is far from complete, and of course, Israelis are very divided as to whether they think that such a wall will affect the safety of Israelis.
3. Negotiations with the Palestinians Now that the war with Iraq has progressed, the Americans and the British have begun to pressure Israel and the Palestinian Authority to accept the 'Road Map' outlined by American President Bush in June, 2002. This Map essentially calls for two states, Israel and Palestine, to live peacefully, side-by-side. The three-phased plan is supported by 'The Quartet,' the US, EU, UN, and Russia, and calls for a reduction in Palestinian violence and incitement to violence, a halt to Israeli settlement activity, an interim Palestinian State to be established, and a permanent status agreement and an end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by the end of 2005.
Part of the Map also calls for the reform of the Palestinian Authority, including the naming of a Prime Minister, who will share power with President Arafat. Abu Alla (Mahmoud Abbas) has been named to this position, and is now in the midst of naming his government. Arafat has blocked some of his choices, and we shall see in the coming days whether Abu Alla's appointment really represents an attempt to reform the PA. Abu Alla has previously been very active in dialogue with both Ariel Sharon and the Labour Party.
In a pre-Pessach interview with Ha'aretz, PM Sharon has said that he is prepared to make 'painful concessions' to bring Israelis the peace they deserve. He said that this might even involve withdrawal from some of the Biblical heartland of Eretz Yisrael. He has come under attack from members of his party and other right-wing parties for his view that there will eventually be a Palestinian state. In the coming months, when the pressure from the US and UK will increase after the Iraq War (we already see that they are strongly hinting at the necessity for diplomatic progress on the Israeli-Palestinian track), I believe that Abu Allah and Sharon will return to the negotiating table.
4. Economic Situation The past two years have been the worst economically since the early years of Israel's existence. The government has put forward an economic austerity programme, that is now being prepared to be brought for 3 readings in the Knesset plenum before it can become law. There has been much opposition to the plan, spearheaded by the Histadrut Labour Union, which claims that the plan, cutting 11 Billion NIS from the State Budget, will seriously undermine the Welfare State. They threatened a general strike, which has thusfar been avoided, as both sides agreed to return to the bargaining table after the Pessach break.
5. The Secular-Ultra-Orthodox Division In the last election, the Shinui Party, which labelled itself the party of Middle Class and Secular Israelis, grew in strength from 6 to 15 MKs. They agreed to sit in Sharon's government under condition that they would not sit with any Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) party. So, for the first time since 1977, no Haredi party is part of the governing coalition. Shinui holds the Interior and Justice Ministries, and both of the Ministers have pledged to try to limit the control of the Ultra-Orthodox sector through their ministries. Tension should increase on this front as the Haredi sector (5-10% of the Jewish population) will feel increasingly threatened by Shinui's involvement in many areas that are important to them (such as funding for local councils, the role of the Rabbinic vs. civil courts, registry of conversion, citizenship of non-Halachic Jews, etc.)
Many challenges face the people and State of Israel. Just as we say at our Pessach Seder that 'every generation should look at itself as if it too came out of Egypt,' we should look at these issues and realize that they affect all Jews all over the world, not merely those in Israel. Let us hope and pray that after the Pessach break, we can begin to make progress on these issues to ensure that we will be able to promise a brighter future.
Hag Pessach Sameach U'kasher