Yair Lapid – The Better Option
In weeks like last week, we have to remind ourselves of the better option.
It’s possible to live in a country where the Prime Minister has not surrendered to the ultra-orthodox. Instead, he would say “I believe in dialogue and cooperation, but you have to remember that 90% of the citizens of this State are not ultra-orthodox, so you can’t tell everyone how to get married, what their Shabbat table should look like or who can or cannot be a parent. I believe that two fathers can be a family and if you think differently, tough. That’s your problem.”
It’s possible for the communities surrounding the Gaza Strip not to be torched. A year will pass, then another, and even five, and Sderot will blossom, families will move to live in Nativ Ha’Asara, and in Nahal Oz a flower pot will bloom at the entrance to the bomb shelter. All this will happen because the strategic plan for rebuilding Gaza in exchange for disarmament is practical, proper and workable. We are already shrugging our shoulders because this seems impossible. But why? We have succeeded with far more complicated matters in the past. It’s true that it won’t happen in a day, but what does? If we had started four years ago then our situation would be much better now. To prevent the fields in the Gaza region from burning again four years from today, we have to start working on it now.
It’s possible that we will go to the supermarket, fill up a shopping cart and not be shocked by the bill. That at the end of the month, when we take stock of our bills, we don’t find that we are paying more for electricity, for food, for life.
It’s possible that our young people will be able to buy an apartment without having to participate in lotteries where they gamble away all the money they haven’t got; that our salaries won’t be stuck at the same level year in year out.
It’s possible that a Conservative Rabbi will officiate at the Jewish wedding of a Jewish couple without being called in for questioning by the police, but that instead the police will stop bullies in Beit Shemesh who throw stones at young women. There is even the possibility that female IDF soldiers will wear white T-shirts and ultra-orthodox soldiers will simply not look if it bothers them. It’s called mutual respect.
It’s possible that the government will understand that it’s part of their responsibility not to needlessly offend and believe that it’s their role to set an example of how to live together despite disagreements. They might convene special meetings to discuss how we can talk to each other without violent rhetoric, without hatred, without discord and anger. It certainly shouldn’t be they who cause all that anger.
It is possible that important legislation such as the Nation-State Bill or the Surrogacy Law will be passed by broad consensus, whereby the Coalition and the Opposition say to each other: “This is so important that this time I forego the opportunity to attack the other side. We’ll argue with them tomorrow but today we will work together to build a better country.” But do you know what the sad part is? That already happens sometimes in the Knesset but both sides hide it for political reasons.
It’s possible that the Prime Minister will protect the police, the court, the opposition, the non-Jewish citizens of Israel, freedom of the press and the law. That the Prime Minister will take responsibility for the expenses in his residence and the rhetoric coming from his office. There is even a possibility that we won’t need to think about it because it will be self-evident.
There is a better option. There always is. We must work at it, never give up, and it will happen. This is what we do. This is the story of the future. This is the story of Yesh Atid.
Yair Lapid
