The Battered Woman Syndrome

Those same political hacks who failed in the struggle and took part in the government's plans for the expulsion from Gush Katif are asking us to hold our noses and vote for them.

The provocative campaign of the National Union-National Religious Party against my candidacy for the Knesset is, above all, reminiscent of the battered woman. A man beats, abuses and dishonors his wife, who, in great anger, throws him out of the house; yet, he is sure that he will return. He will convince her that he is the best husband, that there can be no one else. Perhaps he will bring her perfume or a flower; he might also explain that beatings are necessary and part of reality. In fact, most women are appeased, make up with their husbands and expect a honeymoon, but he barely walks over the doorstep and already he's raising his hand against her.

The National Union-National Religious Party gang seeks to rape a whole population, hold a gun to their head and say threateningly: "If you don't vote for us, settlements will be destroyed." They are sure that we will forget that they already had a hand in the dismantling of settlements. They are angry at the masses who are not willing to vote for them, and suggest, among other things, to "hold our noses and vote for them." They forget that we already held our noses and ate rotten fish when they made their agreement with Shinui, as they stole the bread from families blessed with many children. And in the end, we were expelled, with shame and disgrace, from the city.

In the leaflet that I distributed in the previous elections, beneath the headline, "He who does not believe is a fool," I warned that when a leader promises harsh edicts we must believe him. When Ariel Sharon speaks about uprooting settlements and making difficult concessions, he means what he says. I warned that voting for the National Union or the National Religious Party will lead to the dismantling of settlements. I begged those parties after the elections to stand aside and stir up a protest movement, from the very start of the term of the evil government.

But they, with political stupidity, stole from the Right and handed their votes over to the government of ruination and destruction. In an insulting and brilliant definition made by Shimon Peres, during the days when the National Union and National Religious Party were part of the Sharon government, he said it all: I am happy that the Right is being stripped of its ideology and is implementing the plans of the Left.

Peres and Yossi Beilin rubbed their hands together with glee, with admiration for the leadership of Sharon and with utter contempt for the so-called Right. Sharon, for his part, enjoyed the quiet and total lack of opposition at a time when the representatives of the Right were hanging on to their ministerial seats, imprisoned by his government even as they were knowing and willing accomplices to the government's plans for the expulsion.

The failure of the struggle against the dismantling of Gush Katif and its destruction down to its very foundations has, for some reason, not led those responsible to draw conclusions. Tommy Lapid failed and went home, Yossi Sarid also retired, but for the public servants of the National Union-National Religious Party, along with the Judea, Samaria and Gaza Council, it's business as usual. The same players playing the same game and quarreling among themselves, with no regrets or admissions of guilt.

The National Union-National Religious Party pact, which allows Zevulun Orlev to be its number one minister, is a familiar horrific scenario. Just before Purim, Orlev already couldn't hold himself back; he sensed that Shas would grab his party's place in the king's court, at the government table. Without consulting his partners, he called for a press conference, during which he declared that he would not rule out a partnership with Ehud Olmert. He also took the trouble to explain that influence can only be found at the steering wheel of the government. From this point onward, it doesn't take much imagination to foresee that the first political embrace on Tuesday evening will be between Olmert and Orlev.

Olmert has one agenda, the dismantling of settlements. In Amona, he learned that the "day trip" he had in Gush Katif would not happen again without tearing apart the settlement from within and the castration of a broad-based resistance movement. Othniel Shneller and Yoel Bin-Nun are already trying to smoothen things out. The Ministry of Education seat is fitting compensation for a good friend like Orlev.

Orlev, whose only desire is for a ministerial seat, will bring along with him four or five representatives, who will explain that the government isn't uprooting settlements, only consolidating them and moving them to a settlement block; that he is working from within for the benefit of those who are being uprooted, and more of the same. Then, Effie Eitam will either join him or badmouth him, but it will no longer make a difference. Once again, Jews will be torn from their homes, with the help of votes from the Right.

Anyone who wasted his vote on the National Union or National Religious Party the last time around can no longer say that he's been misled. This time, everything is out in the open. In their party platform, they are declaring that they are in favor of a Palestinian State. They are also committed to stay out of a government that uproots settlements. But, just like last time, until the bulldozer strikes our homes, they will stay put in the government. Then, once again, Shimon Peres will say what he said in the days of the Sharon government.

They're all asking me: "Marzel, what are you going to do with two MKs - shout?" My answer is, "Yes."

I am not a political hack and I am not bought with bribes or a ministerial seat. My support for what I stand for comes from the people. I also don't need to hand out jobs to members of the National Religious Party, so there is no chance that I will betray my voters. There is no way that they will use me like a piece of gum that you chew up and spit out. Let me remind you, in the previous Knesset, Sharon did not have any opposition that could drive the struggle against the expulsion.

In this political show, the time has come for one to shout out loud, "The emperor has no clothes." In the tale of the exposed emperor, the masses connected with the glance of the innocent child, while the emperor shamefacedly ran away. When Rabbi Meir Kahane was a member of the Knesset, he got the ball rolling and presented challenges to the Knesset. Only a firm, proud and unwavering stance can bring about meaningful achievements.

One of the great earthly human disasters is that Man is forever blaming others for his own shortcomings. In one of the big, prominent settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, the head of the community coordinated plans and gave counsel to bring the youth, future voters in a Knesset election, out of their apathy. After deliberations, it was decided to call a big assembly in which the community leaders, among them prominent rabbis, would talk to the youth. Advertisements for the great assembly, under the headline "National Union-National Religious Party" covered all the billboards. In the Hesder yeshiva auditorium that was being used for the occasion, the rabbis waited. Not surprisingly, no one came.

There, in the National Union-National Religious Party, no one is asking himself, "Why? Why is the public shrinking away from us? Why are we left no recourse but to convince voters with futile arguments such as 'hold your noses and vote for us'? Or why, in spite of the great investment in the 'They have no chance' ads directed against Baruch Marzel, tens of thousands of citizens signed up in an opinion poll to vote for the National Jewish Front?

Why did we expect 15 mandates and in the polls we are stuck on 9? Why, in spite of the Face-to-Face campaign and bringing out youth against their will from the yeshivas to the highway junctions, we are only losing ground in the polls? They refuse to acknowledge the fact that, for many, it is difficult to identify with the knights of defeat, with a group that represents loss of direction and total lack of faith.

The nonsensical claim they are trying to pin on me, as if I wanted to join the NRP, is an audacious lie with no small amount of fraud. The one contact that they are hanging on took place when I complied with the request of the rabbis to meet with Effie Eitam, when his whole purpose was to use the meeting in order to justify a claim of my desire to join the NRP. Aside from all the name-calling that Effie Eitam directed at his rivals, such as Orlev, there were no agreements made, other than general talk of a "technical block" between NRP and Hazit.

My campaign for Knesset is not based on personal ambition; it is necessitated by the path of destruction that we are headed on. It is about loyalty in a place where many have lost trust. Scare tactics like, "You voted Marzel, you voted Kadima" are used by those who fear that if I will be elected, then I will expose their wretchedness. The battered women will allow their abusive husbands to return home; yet, the brave will safely lead the way to a new future.