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Eldad launches new Right Secular party in Israel: Ha'tikvah ('the Hope')
When we published the interview with Israeli M.K. Arieh Eldad in the November edition of the NER, we knew that he was on the cusp of deciding which party list he would run on in the upcoming Israel general election now scheduled for February 10th. Eldad had been part of the Moledet faction that included the right wing National Union and National Religious Party. He and others in Israel were concerned that an emphasis on religious affiliation might preclude Israelis who were secular and were aligned with the views of the Moledet faction. They had formed a new party, Ha’tikva ('the hope’ in Hebrew, Israel’s national anthem). Eldad had indicated in the NER interview what he might do in that case:
These secular nationalists were alienated by former PM Ariel Sharon when the settlements of Gush Katif in Gaza and North Samaria were uprooted. Israel Beiteinu, M.K. Avigdor Lieberman’s Russian émigré party in the Knesset also advocates the division of Jerusalem and creation of a Palestinian State. Effectively, these secular nationalists had no place to go and many simply stayed home. The National Union stands at a cross road. The Knesset faction could become a united, non-sectarian party by going to the voters and asking them in primaries to elect their representatives to the Knesset. Or the faction could become religious-only party, with a nominating committee of Rabbis' and public figures to decide who will represent it. If National Union can preserve the original spirit of Moledet I will stay. If it becomes a de facto and de jure religious party, then I will go with the newly formed Ha’tikva party list, to attract the non- religious voters in the nationalist camp. This would assure them that they can vote for a true ideological party. Only in Israel can such a split enlarge the power of the right wing nationalist camp.
Today, Eldad announced the launch of Ha’tikva. He has effectively ‘crossed the Rubicon’ politically. The Jerusalem Post had this comment from him:
Eldad explained that he opted not to join the new right-wing party announced Monday because the new party, comprised of the National Religious Party and the National Union, cannot serve as a home for "Land of Israel Faithfuls" who are not religious.
"I asked one of the senior figures in the [new] party if a pilot in the reserves who happens to drive on Shabbat can be a member... and I was told that it is problematic," Eldad said. "When I joined the National Union I didn't do so in order to erect a home for religious Zionism, but rather to protect the Land of Israel."
Kol Hakavod ('all honors' in Hebrew) to M.K. Dr. Eldad and the party leaders of Ha’tikva. Should a center right coalition is formed to lead a new Knesset in February, 2009, Eldad and Ha’tikva may be members of it. That is the ‘hope.’
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