I was going to call this piece "When the Right is Wrong -Part III", but I'm too much of an optimist to use that negative title three times in a row. And so I have decided to heed my own words, because, as stated in Part I, "...the current parallels being drawn are demoralizing for a nation engaged in an uphill march towards Redemption."



Israel is in the midst of an intense, transitional labor - and the birth process is fraught with pain and difficulties, and often defies predictability. I've assisted women through natural childbirth and gone through more than a few of my own. I can attest to the fact that, serious complications outstanding, labor rarely goes well if one doesn't keep one's focus, exert tremendous effort, and believe that there will be a beautiful and miraculous end product.



Those women who doubt their ability or feel they lack the strength to get through the process will, more often than not, prematurely opt for medication or invasive procedures. There are others who push too hard, too fast and end up with nasty tears that are difficult to repair. Some are control freaks and endure an elongated and excruciating experience before they finally cry out to G-d for assistance and deliverance.



One of the most frustrating parts of our national struggle is that there is indeed a healthy public consensus with regards to our direction and we potentially possess the electoral strength and will to initiate reform, but the silent majority have few means with which to express themselves, consolidate efforts and effect change. The Israeli media is overwhelmingly and admittedly left-wing, while the majority of the voting public is decidedly Right. And when it comes to our government leaders and their policies, rogue is in vogue and anything goes - with the exception of true public opinion.



The powers-that-be incessantly present us with virtual forecasts and polls, but, when we vote with our feet and prove the pundits wrong, the real results are ignored or dismissed with a wave of the hand.



Our prime minister may be a bulldozer, but he's in no shape to keep running circles around the Oval Office in order to placate America and keep them anointed in petrol. Ovals can be deceptive, because on those long stretches you actually think that you're getting somewhere - only to find out later that you've been running around a mutant circle.



The American Diaspora leadership is of little help, as they're so taken by the power and prestige of superpower America, and so comfortable living and promoting their own exile, that they would rather dangle a carrot in the front of the Israeli leader's nose just to keep him going on the fast track to hell and keep them from going home to Israel.



Perhaps our greatest problem on the Rght is that our own national, grassroots, religious and community leaders are, for the most part, incapable of representing or validating the public's true feelings. They are either ideologically too hot or too cold, and/or lack the skills and wisdom necessary in order to effectively communicate the public's case. The exception has always been Binyamin Netanyahu, but none of us are sure where he stands anymore.



With no effectual leadership alternatives in sight, a concerned and frustrated public resorts to throwing stones (figuratively) at the government and taunting the Left in childish, potentially dangerous and futile efforts.



We are in need of a revolution, but talk of civil war or whipping the public into a panic over another Holocaust is alienating, defeatist and dangerous. I believe we should be aiming for and are capable of orchestrating a bloodless coup, and I am quite sure that a good number of Israelis, both religious and secular, would feel comfortable with or would fully endorse an agenda promoting the following:



a) The various factions in the national camp should unite under a common banner, and actively seek and endorse a national leader as an alternative to Ariel Sharon.



b) Sharon should be deposed through either due democratic process, or he should be forced to resign as a result of overwhelming public pressure and protest.



c) Yasser Arafat should be eliminated by the IDF via the most undemocratic means possible.



d) Aliyah should be a top priority.



e) Zionism and Jewish values should be reintroduced into the nation's political, cultural and educational institutions.



f) Working towards economic independence from America should be seen as a positive step towards reestablishing our national sovereignty.



g) The Oslo Accords have proven themselves to be a danger to the State of Israel and to the Jewish People. As such, they should be declared null and void.



h) Based on our experiences with Oslo, the evacuation of Gaza settlements or any plan endorsing the surrender of land to the enemy will most certainly lead to a further escalation of Palestinian violence and should not be considered viable.



i) Forced evacuation of Israeli communities or any surrender of land with the purpose of either appeasing America, assuaging Europe and the UN, capitulating to the Palestinians, or keeping Sharon in power is anathema to every Jewish soul and should be met with vigorous protest.



j) The entire episode beginning with Oslo needs to be thoroughly investigated and those parties involved with its inception and evolution should be barred from all government, political or diplomatic activity until such an investigation is completed and its results made public.



k) A two-state solution should not be considered tenable.



l) Demographic scare tactics, threats of civil war or drawing comparisons of today's situation in Israel with that of the Holocaust should not be encouraged, as they are counterproductive and not in keeping with our national aspirations and hopes as a people.



We need to find the common denominators that will allow us in Israel to forge a united agenda. The beauty of living in Israel is that, when faced with challenges, we get to do more than simply whine and "shrei 'Gevalt!'" We have within our reach the strength and resources to act and initiate change.