Vayifen Ko Vacho
- Rashi
Some people wrongly believe that political parties reflect the collective view of their members.
However, people vote for individuals. As a result, it is possible to discover that the person's individual policies following the election differ from those which he promised. The candidate who promises to reduce taxes actually raises them, and the one who lectured about peace actually made war. The stated policies of a political party or of an individual are rarely the same as what happens in practice.
When campaigning, political figures tend to say the things that will appeal to the widest possible audience. In so doing they very often hide their true intent. You don't know what they are going to be like.
In the good old days you could tell your friends from your enemies. Opposites were clear. Decisions were easy. A Rightist could cheerfully spit in the face of a Mapainik, and a Leftist would do the same to a Likudnik, knowing that nothing good would ever come of him. What a pleasure.
Today, Rightists have to be nice to every strong leftist he meets. If he gets in, he won't have time to fawn on his own colleagues. He'll be too busy fawning on the nearest Leftist.
It certainly makes for a friendly society.
More of these articles about Israeli politics
Join a forum that deals with Israeli politics
Articles about other subjects
See a list of forums about Israel
See a list of forums about Jewish and Hebrew issues
Are you required to read this webpage for a course? Do NOT print out the article. It is copyrighted.
Your exercise for this article is as follows:
Copyright © David Grossman. World rights reserved. This article may not be printed, forwarded, reproduced, or copied in any way or in any medium without written permission from David Grossman.
Keyword: Opposites
/GrossmanIsrael/Articles/Politics/Parties