For years, the people of Israel have been fed a low level of journalism and concocted media events. For years, we have had to endure reading on the front pages of Israel’s newspapers about who hates who in the corridors of

Suddenly the leaders of Israel seemingly started to make the right decisions.

power. We have been inundated for a very long time with reports of corruption, thievery and immoral conduct. The television is replete with Reality TV glorifying the most banal and self-serving qualities of the people of Israel. It is no wonder that the Israeli people have become demoralized to such an extent that they do not expect any better from their leadership, and no revelation of criminal activity or immoral behavior is received with surprise.

Yet, suddenly the leaders of Israel seemingly started to make the right decisions and to say the right things. Their motivation to attack the enemies of Israel remained suspect, but the right things were being done. As it turns out, the new approach was temporary. The leadership of Israel again fell into the trap of succumbing to the demands of a world that never really cared for a strong Israel. They again are being led by their own small-minded political concerns.

Even in the midst of the warfare, the bickering of these self-serving leaders has simply become embarrassing. After the sounds of battle have lessened, the bickering has simply gotten louder. Any discussions on the radio regarding where the leadership had been hiding during the endless months of missiles from Gaza is quickly stifled. As we come closer to Election Day, any reports of all the corruption that led to the demoralization of the country prior to the war is mysteriously missing.

This is the elected leadership of Israel; and one wonders if there is any hope for a people who elected and have supported such a leadership.

In the beginning of the book of Exodus, Moshe (Moses) is faced with the same question. After going out to share in his brothers' difficulties he sees a people beaten and (Shmot - Exodus 2:12) "he looked this way and that way, and... he saw that there was no man" to stand up for them. He sees two of his brothers fighting and is shocked by the resentment his intervention brings about. He suddenly realizes that "indeed the matter is known." (ibid 2:14) If Moshe wondered, as Rashi implies, what it is that kept this people in bondage for so long, "indeed the matter (was now) known." These oppressed slaves had lost the understanding of justice, righteousness and compassion. Moshe escapes filled with disappointment in the people that he sought to reach out to. We then hear nothing regarding Moshe for over fifty years, as he hides from his people in utter disappointment.

Yet, when the people cry out to G-d with the classical Jewish sigh, the events take a dramatic turn: "And the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto G-d." (ibid 2:23)

That Jewish sigh was the classical cry of sadness mixed with an undertone of hope and faith. It is after that "sigh" that G-d meets Moshe at the burning bush. The small little bush, which so clearly became a metaphor for the Israelite nation under oppression, was a message that Moshe clearly understood. This little bush blazing with fire was not to be consumed, and Moshe was to understand that the same was true of his people.

Such is the case of the beleaguered people in the small modern nation of Israel. The power of this people is not to be found in its faulty leadership, but rather embedded in the hearts and souls of the people. Something new was revealed in this last war. It began with the ever mounting anger of the citizens of Israel against the Israeli government over their inaction in face of the steady rain of terror missiles from Gaza. The anger and frustration continued as the leadership seemed more concerned about their political fortunes than about the citizens of the Negev. The frustration began to disappear as Israeli jets began to hit back at the terror nests in the villages of the Gaza Strip. All the anger was suddenly forgotten on one Saturday night, when the long line of young Israeli soldiers began to weave their way into the darkness of Gaza.

In a flash, a new spirit began to blossom in the hearts and souls of the Israeli people. With eyes filled with concern and mouths tightened with worry, they seem to suddenly stand straighter and held their head up with more self-assuredness. There was a clear sense that "we were doing what needed to be done." Hearts were opened and souls were enlarged. People began to talk in a language of faith, spirituality and peoplehood.

People in the once-battered north opened their homes to the residents of the south. Residents of Sderot and Netivot were inundated with gifts and food packages. People adopted a soldier's name to pray for throughout the day and souls became eternally linked. Thousands of reservists left their lives on hold only to risk those lives in the sand dunes of terror. Soldiers who had termed themselves "secular" together with those who considered themselves "spiritually-based" stood together in prayer before venturing into the darkness of Gaza.

The famous dictum that there are no atheists in a foxhole is undeniably true. Yet, probably the only reasons foxholes exist is to give people the opportunity to discover that they are not atheists. That is exactly the sense discovered by many of the people in this land.

That sense has truly transformed many people, but it is an awareness that can easily be extinguished in its

It is an awareness that can easily be extinguished in its nascent fragile state.

nascent fragile state. The true leadership of this country, found dispersed amongst several parties, must use the opportunity to remind the people of what they could be. This is especially true of the National Union party, which, more than any other political entity, represents the zeal and passion that was rediscovered in the three weeks of the Gaza war.

The National Union party under Yaakov Katz and Uri Ariel must look beyond their constituency and offer vision to the rest of their nation. Their message must be about a return to the vision, strength and pride that all of Israel experienced, and is still capable of.

The previous leadership of this country has failed its people. The Israeli nation is a people without true leadership and that too has been foretold regarding the final days. Just as in the time of Exodus almost four-fifths of the people lost direction and desired to stay in Egypt, we again are hearing the voices of Israelis feeling the guilt imposed on them by the rest of the world.

It is therefore a great relief that the majority of this nation, which rediscovered its collective soul, seem to be people led by a higher calling.