4INEditorials
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Rebuilding A Government
33
hud Barak's dramatic resignation as prime minister of Israel is a good first
step toward sorting out what the nation wants next.
Now the Knesset should follow his lead and dissolve itself to face new
elections at the same time. There is no point in pretending that the cur-
rent members can overcome their mutual hostilities long enough to work with
Barak or any other separately elected prime minister.
And if, as seems likely, they can't steel themselves to leaving office, they should
speedily amend the election law that limits the potential Barak opponents to cur-
rent members of the parliament. However misguided some of the policies of former
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu were,
he is respected by huge numbers of Israelis
and should be allowed to compete in the
February vote.
Barak's step was both bold and necessary.
As we said last week, he no longer has a
mandate to negotiate for a peace agreement
with the Palestinians and must seek a new
public backing. That can come only after a
substantial campaign that gives the public a
chance to hear in some detail how he and
his opponent propose to deal with Palestin-
ian Authority leader Yasser Arafat's return
to violence and terrorism. Barak has said
that the political right offers no program
for solving the problem; the campaign is
the correct place to test that hypothesis.
No doubt parliamentary parties would
rather not have to present themselves for re-
election after the sorry record they have
Binyarnin Wetanyahn
compiled in the last 18 months. Barak's
One Israel coalition "partners" proved to be
fair-weather friends, ready at every turn to
demand new concessions that distracted
from a cohesive national policy. Barak, to
be sure, often seemed not up to the task of
bringing the disparate groups together, but
the legislators did little to help him pursue
a national interest.
Since there is no likelihood that any
prime minister could deal effectively with
the fractiousness of this Knesset, voters
should be allowed to choose a new one at
the same time they pick a new leader.
Should the Knesset fail to dissolve itself,
however, it must quickly finish the process
it started Wednesday of amending the election laws to provide that the parties can
select whatever candidates they want for prime minister. Current law provides that a
Knesset member be tapped when only the top office is open.
That won't do if this election is to have any true meaning. While other parlia-
mentary groups, including the Arab parties, may offer candidates, "Bibi" Netanyahu
is clearly the most popular candidate Likud could present and the one most able to
articulate specific internal and external policies that would differ from what Barak
proposes. Depriving him of the opportunity to run would be a cheap technical
trick, unworthy of the country and of what Barak has stood for in the past.
One of the lessons that Israelis should take from America's dismally ineffective pres-
idential race is that meaningful national progress can only be built by a vigorous pub-
lic airing of what each candidate proposes to do about specific problems, such as the
relationship with the Palestinians, the future of the settlements, treatment of Arab
Israelis and the secular-religious divide. Democracy thrives on sharp debate, and a
tough campaign will reaffirm Israel's sr _!ngth, not its weakness. The only unfettered
democracy in the Middle East ought t , remain the model for the region. 0
Related coverage: page 26
Dry Bones
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LETTERS
Let All Jews Pray
Aloud At Wall
In your article on Women of the
Wall ("A Wall Divided," Dec. 8,
page 6), Special Writer Jill David-
son Sklar provided a balanced
report on the emotional issue of
women praying aloud at the Kotel
(Western Wall). At the heart of the
matter is the fact that the Kotel is
such a significant location for all
Jews. It is our common patrimony
and the location for our most fer-
vent desires for redemption and
reconciliation.
Reading the comments of my
colleague Rabbi Avraham
Jacobowitz, I had difficulty follow-
ing his logic. The Kotel belongs to
all Jews, he says, but it is an
"Orthodox place" and has been for
centuries. In fact, the Kotel has
been administered as an Orthodox
synagogue only since 1967. Before
then, no Jewish group presumed to
own this most sacred place of
prayer.
We can all understand why the
Orthodox would wish to preserve
their monopoly on this place,
which is venerated by all Jews.
What I want to know is why the
constant harassment is necessary?
So many times, I have stood at the
Kotel, immersed in the Arnidah,
only to have one functionary or
another interrupt my prayers. So
often, the girls on our trips, who
have taken pains to dress modestly
in deference to local custom, have
been berated and shoved when all
they wanted was to touch the
sacred stones and seek God's pres-
ence.
LETTERS on page 37
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