all just a political circus. He claims to
be the bridge between left and right,
but it's not true. I don't believe his
position will promote peace."
Waste Of Time
aliyah last summer from Detroit,
also received a telephone call from
Sharansky's party, but she was not
convinced. Until the last minute, she
debated between the Likud and
United Torah Judaism, her husband
Moshe's choice.
On election morning, with five of
her seven sons already in school,
Lichtenstein brought her youngest
— David, 5; Yosef Binyamin, 3; and
her newborn baby girl, Hana Bracha
— to the community center in
Ramat Beit Shemesh, where she and
her husband are registered to vote.
Ramat Beit Shemesh is a relatively
new neighborhood of Beit Shemesh,
a town of 60,000 that in recent years
has become home to about 7,500
English-speaking immigrants.
The Lichtensteins were voting for
the first time. Standing in front of a
sign listing the parties, Rachel was
confused for a minute. "Why are
And Caren Weinberg, a Californian
who made aliyah 22 years ago, charac-
terized the election as "ridiculous, a
waste of time and money."
Weinberg, who lives in Tel Aviv and
works for a technology company, said
she voted "against the people I don't
like, like Sharon and Shas. My mother
thinks I shouldn't be so negative about
Sharon, but as a moral person, I have
a big problem with him. I don't trust
him and I find him scary.
"I didn't vote for Shinui either, because
Lapid is racist against anyone who is not
a white Ashkenazi Jew like him."
Teddy Weinberger, who moved to
Jerusalem from Atlanta seven years
ago, said he voted Labor "but I
didn't have a lot of faith in
Mitzna and I am not too disap-
pointed with the results. I think
they show that the country is
still conservative and suspicious
about the Arabs.
"But I hope that at least
Mitzna will stick to his promise
and not sit in the same Likud
government, which didn't do
Labor any good the last time."
Judith Fineberg, a former
Atlanta resident who now lives
in Netanya, said "none of the
-packages are perfect, but I voted Headed to vote are former Detroiter Rachel
thinking what would be best for Lichtenstein and husband Moshe, with children.
the country.
'As soon as the dust settles
from the Iraq crisis, the interna-
there so many?" she asked with
tional community will be sitting on
mock amazement. "Have you not
Israel's neck, demanding that we do
something. And I'm thinking who will made up your mind yet, sweetie
pie?" Moshe replied.
be a good mind in that situation. I
Then Rachel made a last-minute
believe we need some good chess play-
decision: She would vote for the
ers. "
extreme right-wing Herut Party and
Fineberg was referring to former
tried to persuade her husband to do
Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky, the
the same.
leader of Yisrael b'Aliyah, who
But Moshe stuck with United
resigned Jan. 29 after his party
dropped 100,000 votes and three of its Torah Judaism. "I don't see things in
such a black-and-white way," he
Knesset seats from the last election.
said, "and it's very important to me
Yisrael b'Aliyah, which was deserted
by its Russian immigrant constituency, that the religious are represented,
especially in light of what's happen-
campaigned heavily among Anglo
immigrants, with Sharansky promising ing with Shinui," the left-wing party
that has advocated removing some of
to replace a corrupt Palestininan
the government perks received by
Authority and fight for tax reform and
the Orthodox.
a two-day weekend.
A few streets away from the
Lichtensteins, Motie and Sonia Poss,
Former Detroiters
both born in Detroit, live in a spa-
Rachel Lichtenstein, who made
PUZZLE on page 26
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