Guest Post by Israel Future*
 |
| Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid and party member, Dov Lipman |
The following was sent to me by an observant Jew in
Israel. I mention that only because of
the anomaly of religious Jews voting for a political party that many consider
to be anti Torah. It is a plea to vote Yesh Atid and an explanation as to why. He asked that I not use his real name. I agreed. His message is timely and straight from the heart. As always opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect my own. His words follow:
Complaining about how messed up things are here in Israel is
a feature of life. Nothing works, it’s
all a mess. Problems don’t get
solved. But it doesn’t have to be that
way.
If I'm going to vote for a party, then I want that party
that will make things better in this country – and for too long things haven't
gotten any better. Problems have festered. Issues have not been
tackled. For too long, politicians have avoided tackling the economy,
education, healthcare, issues of religion and state, the financial challenges
faced by those who work, serve and pay taxes.
I want to vote for a party that says
"Enough! It's time to start fixing problems. It's not
acceptable that our leaders avoid problems. It's not acceptable that year after
year living here becomes more difficult because the traditional political
parties don't have any ideas, don't have any solutions and won't do the hard
work needed to fix the problems that we deal with on a daily basis.” Why?
Because things can be fixed. And they can be tackled. And in the
last 18 months, Yesh Atid has proven this to be the case.
Yesh Atid is the only party who is offering a better future
for the country. Whilst the other parties squabble over petty
grievances, Yesh Atid turns to us and says:
·
*We can’t let the duties and obligations to the
State be carried out only by some of the population. We are all one
country. We all have to share equally in the responsibilities. We need
more equality in the draft, in the work-place and in tax-paying;
·
*We can't just endlessly milk the Israeli
tax-payers for more money. We have to collect money and spend money
responsibly and carefully. We have to close loop-holes, stop government
waste and not spend more than we can afford just to keep our coalition
intact. We have to be financially responsible;
· *We can't disproportionately give money to Haredi
yeshivot and to settlements. We have to make sure that our tax-money is
collected and spent for the benefit of ALL citizens of Israel and in particular
we have to help those who are most needy – the poor and Holocaust Survivors in
particular;
·
*We can't let standards in education fall any
more. We have to make sure that school education prepares children for a
productive role in the work-force and that it offers options and opportunities.
We can't just ignore the failings of school education anymore;
· *We can't allow Haredim to drift increasingly
into poverty and alienation from the State of Israel. We have for too long
handed out payments in return for votes, but the results have been
catastrophic. Haredim live in dire poverty and resentment and Labor,
Likud and Haredi politicians have let the problem fester for years and the
result is a generation of poor Haredim;
·
*We can't allow people to wait for so long to get
to see a doctor. We have to provide more
healthcare services particularly in the periphery where so much more needs to
be done;
· *As a dati Israeli, I know that we can’t allow
issues of Religion and State to tear the Jewish people apart anymore by
enforcing it on those who don’t share our outlook. We have to create genuine dialogue between religious
and secular Jews so that Judaism is part of the private and public life of all
here in Israel;
*We can't continue to turn a blind eye to the
daily revelations of corruption in public life. We have to impose standards and
regulations so we can start to trust the institutions of the State again.
For too long we have only paid attention to issues of 'Right
vs Left'. For too long, Likud and Labor have promised us 'peace' or
'security' and under that blanket, they have spent our tax-money irresponsibly
they have failed for years and years and years to improve the lot of the
citizens of the State of Israel. Likud left us with a 40 billion NIS
deficit. Labor just promises everything for free. And with regards to our
long-term security, neither party is pragmatic. Labor is sure that a
territorial compromise is the only way to go. Likud is sure that it will
lead to disaster. Both are pipe-dreams and both ignore reality. I
want to vote for a party that will be pragmatic – that will make a sensible,
careful deal if it is viable, but isn't committed to giving away land regardless
of the outcome. There's only one pragmatic party out there – Yesh Atid.
And that's why I am asking you to vote for Yesh Atid.
The Yesh Atid MKs are fighting for our country. They are working hard to
make our lives better. And isn't that the best reason that you should
vote for one party over another?
And here's the thing… Yesh Atid has already done so much
already. Read Dov Lipman's series on ‘What Yesh Atid has done for
you lately’ in the Times of Israel: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/dov-lipman/
More can be done. Things can be better here. If you vote for Yesh Atid, then together we
will be making life in Israel better.
Please vote, as I will, for Yesh Atid.
*Not his real name
