THE ISRAELI ELECTION

Tel Aviv Mood

velopment towns, defy the stigmas and stereotypes
attached to their parents. They're involved, articulate,
and armed with political savvy.
"We Moroccans used to be naive," says Avi, who has
strayed from the Likud all the way over to the far
Left. "But we've gotten smart, we've grown up now."
"It won't be easy for me, but this time I'm
voting Labor," declares Charlie, explaining
that even the people who have jobs can't earn
a decent living in industry these days. "The
Likud has let everything go to pot — educa-
tion, social services, the lot. They've ignored
problems and let them grow until it's im-
possible to solve them. Countless people have
come here and talked about fostering indus-
try. What have they done? Zilch."
"Labor channeled money to the kibbutz-

im," chimes in Avshalom. "Now the Likud is pouring
billions into the territories. And we, as usual, are left
out."
"We don't want just a token minister or two," adds
Avi, returning to the ethnic theme. "We want to see
Moroccans in key positions in the economy, as bank

Rabin: the once and would-be
future prime minister
is about as centrist
as one can be in Israel.

28

FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 1992

managers, on boards of directors. Let's face it: 80 per-
cent of the population of the Negev is Sephardi. Show
me one factory with 100 workers that's been opened
in the past 15 years, and I'll vote Likud." The con-
sensus in these towns is that resentment over the cav
alier treatment of the voters won't disappear. "I smell
an upset coming," says Avi in Ofakim. "People can't
get themselves to say the word 'Labor,' so they say
'Rabin' instead. But the result will be the same."
Still, the street-corner pundits are divided over
what will happen in June. "People are angry now
and they're saying lots of things," warns Mordechai
Hazan, an unemployed factory worker in Sderot.
"But at the moment of truth, when they get inside
that voting booth, they'll all come back to the fold.
You'll see: they'll all vote Likud."

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