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CounterPunch
November
26, 2002
Even the Taxi Drivers Say It
"Likud Has Failed"
by URI AVNERY
It seems that a new wind is blowing in the country.
This week I flew to Europe. On the way
to the Airport, the taxi-driver told me: That's it, there is
no hope left. We shall never have peace with the Palestinians.
There is no one to talk with. No compromise is possible. The
war will go on and on. Therefore he will vote for Sharon.
I remarked that if this is so, his grandchildren
would certainly leave the country. "What grandchildren,"
he replied with sorrow, mingled with pride, "My son is an
architect in Los Angeles!"
I returned after five days. The taxi
driver who took me home from the airport surprised me. "All
my life I have voted Likud," he said, "But the  Likud has failed. There is no difference
between Sharon and Netanyahu. They have not brought security
but look how the economy has gone to pieces. This time I shall
vote for Mitzna."
What has happened during these five days?
One thing: Amram Mitzna has won the primary election in the Labor
Party.
This, by itself, is a stunning feat in
every respect. An introvert "Yekke" (as German Jews
are condescendingly called) without charisma has defeated an
&qu ot;authentic", back-slapping Iraqi. A dove has beaten
a hawk. A political newcomer, who has announced that he is ready
to talk with Arafat, has routed the Defense Minister, who has
tried to destroy the Palestinian Authority.
That is a shining victory of Mitzna's.
But it is much more. It is a symptom of mysterious happenings
in the depths of the national consciousness.
During the last two years, while the
cycle of atrocities got wider and wider, I was often asked how
I managed to remain optimistic, while everybody around lost all
hope. I answered that one day, in a week or in five years, the
public will wake up in the morning and exclaim: "Enough!
This can't go on! A solution must be found!"
"What good will that do?" the
doom-sayers would say, "There is no politician around who
could lead the country towards peace."
"The demand will create the offer,"
I answered, "When there is a demand for such a leader, he
will appear from somewhere."
I think that this forecast is beginning
to be realized. The currents beneath the surface of public consciousness
are changing. The IDF conquers, occupies, kills, "destroys
the terror infrastructure", and the Palestinian attacks
do not stop for a moment. The regular declarations of Sharon
and Mofaz start to sound like self-parody. For the first time,
"simple" people realize that there is a close relationship
between the intifada, the economic crisis and the social emergency.
That does not cause the public to love
the Palestinians or to get enamored with peace. Not at all. But
it causes it to look for a leader with vision, who will try sincerely
to break out of the bloody cycle and find a solution. The settlers
are "out", compromise is "in". Amram Mitzna
has appeared at the right place, at the right time, with the
right message.
Now the slogan must be: Full Steam Ahead!
Some cautious peace activists say that
we should not ask for too much. One has to look at the public
opinion polls. Mitzna cannot beat Sharon. But he can overhaul
the Labor Party in opposition, and that is also important.
This is a mistake. The polls photograph
the situation on the ground. They do not see what's happening
underneath. There, new currents are flowing. Therefore, the aim
must be: victory.
True, a victory of Mitzna over the Sharonyahu
looks like a miracle. But that's how a victory of Mitzna over
Ben-Eliezer looked a month ago. It will be difficult, very difficult.
But it is possible. All efforts must be made to achieve it.
According to all the polls, the gap between
the two big blocs, the right and the left, is quite small even
now, before the public has grasped the full impact of what happened
in the Labor Party. Something like 65 against 55. Which means
that it is enough to capture five-six seats in the Knesset in
order to achieve an enormous change.
There is no alternative to victory. For
the future of Israel, the saving of human lives and the reconstruction
of the state, the difference between Mitzna and Sharon is colossal.
If the hour has not yet struck, and the
Likud wins after all, the struggle must not be stopped for a
moment. If Sharon or Netanyahu win, they will head a narrow,
divided and fragile coalition, unable to solve any problems.
It will be torn between the need to please Bush and the need
to appease the extreme right wing of Lieberman-Eytam. Since things
under their leadership will go on deteriorating, it can be brought
down within a year and then the big reversal must be effected.
Therefore, any thought about an effort
to set up a "national unity" government after the election
is dangerous. No doubt Sharon will offer Labor seductive terms
for joining. In the language of the Mafia: "An offer they
can't refuse." But Sharon is Sharon and will never change.
In order to remain true to himself, Mitzna will have to refuse.
Even if his job-hungry and unprincipled colleagues urge him to
accept.
The aim must be: a total reversal, all
along the front and in every area. Nothing less will suffice.
True, Amram Mitzna may disappoint us.
Let's not forget the enthusiasm with which we welcomed Ehud Barak,
who led to disaster. He may break on the way. That can also happen,
and we must be ready for it. But it is reasonable to expect the
opposite. A person can grow in the job and fulfill the mission
history has placed on him.
At this moment, ecce homo.
Uri Avnery
has closely followed the career of Sharon for four decades. Over
the years, he has written three extensive biographical essays
about him, two (1973, 1981) with his cooperation. Avnery is featured
in the new book, The
Other Israel: Voices of Refusal and Dissent.
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