"We are entering, I hope, negotiations on the final arrangements. We will touch on the most important and sensitive issues regarding the future of the State of Israel. The Palestinian side is trying to develop the broadest possible front, drafting the majority of the Arab world to support its position in the negotiations. I see it as important to try and get the vast majority of the Israeli public and the Jewish people in general to support the same goals . . . . I thought that bringing the Labor Party into the government would give strengthen us in our ability to negotiate with the Palestinians, because they would understand that there are no cracks -- the entire public stands behind the program for the final arrangement which we present. On the other hand, there is a question if truly they will see one stand or if the government will split to two opposing positions . . . . You first need agreement on a plan and after that you need that there is mutual trust in your partner that they will stay with the agreed plan and the questions and doubts come from this [about unity government]."

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, "Ma'ariv" 21 April, 1997

The Israeli public had a choice. We went to the polls to vote for a party and a person we felt could lead us on the path we believed best for ourselves, our families and our country. Many chose Shimon Peres. Many more chose Bibi Netanyahu.

This past election was my first as an Israeli citizen. I was not unfamiliar with the voting process itself, but I was new to the party system and, like all Israelis, new to the direct-election idea. I voted and then stopped breathing. I spent hours listening to friends, the news and others tell me who won the election before the final tally was even announced. In the early morning hours when the dust began to settle and a trend began to develop, I took my first breathe. I was convinced that Israel had miraculously rescued itself from the brink of terrible disaster. Many voted for Bibi not so much for what he had done, but against the idea of giving Peres more time to do what he wanted. Peres decided long ago that he knew what was best for Israel, and his political future. He tried to ram that "truth" down our throats and when we finally got the chance, we told him with our votes what we thought of his Oslo Accords, his "partners" in "peace" and his political agenda.

Now I hear talk of a national unity government and wonder if we are all not the victims of some great political hoax. What is the purpose of voting for a Prime Minister if he is then going to go and join hands with the very person whom we voted against? If I wanted Peres, I would have voted for him. If I wanted Arafat on my doorstep, I would have campaigned wholeheartedly for the Labor party. If I wanted a divided Jerusalem, a weakened Israel, and no access to Hebron's holy sites, I could have saved the people of Israel the expense of printing stationary for the new prime minister and just kept the last one.

No, the people of Israel have spoken and bringing Peres into a national unity government is simply ignoring the results of the election. What Israel needs now is a strong prime minister with the backbone to stand up and say that we will not negotiate from a position of weakness and we will not be bullied into any agreement under the threat of violence. We will live up to the Oslo Accords because as a democratic nation we have a moral obligation to honor past agreements signed in good faith by our past leaders, no matter how misguided. But Netanyahu must make it clear to everyone that we will honor those accords if, and only if, our "partners" start living up to it as well.

We will not stop growing, nor will we stop settlements on Jewish land as is our sovereign right. We want the murderers of our citizens extradited to Israeli justice, and we demand that terrorism and violence be stopped. Rhetoric that calls for, creates, and fans the flames of violence should be treated as violations of the Oslo Accords and declarations of war. Acid thrown at yeshiva students in Hebron is a violation of the peace process, as are bombs in Netzarim and Nablus. We need a prime minister who will stand firm and explain that violence will be stopped -- either by Arafat or by the IDF's tanks.

If Bibi can't do this then let him step aside and let the people vote for someone who can. If we are to get Peres, let it be by direct election, not once again through the back door of political maneuverings. A national unity government is the coward's way out. Smooth-talking Bibi may be, but a coward he is not. He is committed to the land and the people of Israel and he knows who and what Yassir Arafat is. Now is the time for Bibi to let the world see that below the politician lies a proud, strong Israeli leader who won't betray his followers.
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