It is interesting to see this election through his eyes, as he debates who to support. But more, I wish I could speak to the politicians, just once, to tell them that as has happened to me two times before, this election is critical because my son’s future rides on the decisions they make.
I look back at the “predictions” I made two years ago and find them sadly accurate. I predicted that Netanyahu had formed a coalition that could not be sustained, that we were likely to end up in another war. Here we are, just two years and one war later, going for elections again.
I’m almost afraid to predict and yet I believe with certainty that if the Herzog/Livni team is given power, they will broadcast a message of weakness that will quickly encourage the Arabs to attack. I don’t know what coalition Netanyahu would go for and yet he is, at this moment, the only viable option we have.
The message that Bayit HaYehudi offers is one of strength and yet this was not the message they gave throughout the last two years of the coalition. They joined with Lapid, and I find that hard to forgive. Time is running down on this election – only weeks to go.
I’ve voted enough to know that even after you give a party your vote, there is no guarantee they will honor the platform and the message they proclaim proudly before the elections. Time and time again, the Likud has shown there is no honor, no guarantee. Then again, Livni easily outshines Netanyahu when it comes to lies and a lack of honor and, if possible, Herzog even beats her.
Davidi has not yet experienced the terrible betrayal of knowing that with the vote you give a politician, they can turn and do the opposite. The one great truth in politics is that what they say now to get our vote means little even the day after the election. It is a depressing fact that Davidi and his older siblings have learned or will learn in the years to come.
For me, at this moment, I feel more concern than at most times. Elie and Shmulik have finished the army, are older and wiser and mostly safe. They may do reserve duty that will again take them into danger, but I have grown to trust their maturity and honor the men they have become in so many ways. They have wives to live for, children here or yet to come, God willing.
For now, I fear for David is ways that bring my heart to panic. We’ve begun to talk of units – the idea of ground forces terrifies me; I don’t want him in tanks…I will argue each unit away because unlike what our enemies would portray about us, the real truth is that if I could lock him in a room and not send him to the army at all, I might do that.
This election is just another step he takes…away from the little boy who sat on the ground and picked blueberries just yesterday. It was yesterday, wasn’t it?