There has been much discussion as to the effect of the establishment of the Unity Government, joining the Kadima party with the ruling Likud party and its coalition partners.
How will this affect government policy on Iran, on the economy, on the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria, on our relationship with the Obama government?
The irony of all these questions is that we actually accept the fact that we have no idea.
We go about life with political analyses, speculation, worry and, in general, a total lack of comprehension as to how our elected government leaders will rule.
Sounds like a dictatorship more than a democracy, does it not? After all, in a democracy, the citizenry should know what our representatives, well, represent. If we do not, then the only conclusion possible is that our democracy is in crisis.
How is it that the Israeli populace has become reconciled to the fact that our votes rarely lead to a clear understanding of governmental policy? If we vote for Candidate X, we should know, more or less, what Candidate X thinks about Policy X and Policy Y and Policy Z. If we do not, then in truth the entire process of voting is a sham; the citizenry is being lied to - there is no cause and effect, a notion basic to democracy.
As a matter of fact, without cause (citizen voting) directly corresponding to effect (governmental representation reflecting the citizen voting), there is no democracy at all.
That is the situation today. How can a Likud government join forces with an openly Leftist party such as Kadima? Certainly, the Likud voters never expected this when they cast their votes.
How can a Likud government join forces with an openly Leftist party such as Kadima?
How is it that the Kadima Party, heavily ensconced in Leftist principles that began with the Disengagement, has joined forces with a Likud Party that, theoretically at least, supports Jewish settlement far more than what the average Kadima voter desires? Certainly, the people that voted for Kadima would not have expected such a move from their elected representatives.
Israeli democracy no longer really exists. If the good citizens of Israel no longer understand that, then they deserve what they get.
Why are there so many articles written about the 'meaning' of the new Unity government, rather than how is it at all possible that such a government came into being? More importantly, why are there no articles being written about how to really create a true democracy in Israel?
The truth is that in order for democracy to exist, any democracy, the people must be vigilant; the people must demand that the government acts according to the desires of the people. Today, the opposite is the case. We serve whatever agenda the government pursues, despite our votes, and even despite our often weak and irrelevant protests.
It is time to wake up, to understand that the government needs us to rule. Without an obedient citizenry, the government is paralyzed.
We pay the taxes, not the government. We serve in the army, not the government. We provide the workforce, not the government. We provide the brains that run technological breakthrough, not the government. We run the trains and the buses and the taxis and the shuttles that allow a modern economy to exist. We are the teachers and the nurses and the engineers; not the government.
So really, who has all the power?
