Again, as before the Hebron agreements, it becomes obvious to all responsible people that Israel must honor its commitments. Netanyahu will probably do exactly what the Labor government would have done, and what most people in Israel want him to do, and continue with the peace process. But he will do it only after having brought down the wrath of the entire world on us, Micronesia excepted.

But Netanyahu was not elected in a vacuum, nor does the government exist in a vacuum. The election of Netanyahu was brought about, in part, by legitimate fears of terror, but it was financed by friends of the settlers’ lobby. "Only Netanyahu is good for the Jews" really means "Only Netanyahu is good for the Settlers." The people who financed the campaign got good value for their money – from our pockets, resulting in a massive rise in the strength of the settler lobby. The settlers oppose any withdrawal on any condition, because, as a Qiriat Arba resident explained proudly, "Greater Israel is not an ideology; it is the essence of Judaism." Having nurtured this monster when it was useful, Netanyahu will now have to deal with it. His solution thus far is to give it more food.

Unemployment figures rose again this month. The government again whined that there are no funds for social welfare projects or for increasing spending on infrastructure, and the Bank of Israel again lauded the virtues of fiscal responsibility. Nonetheless, the government earmarked another NIS 90 million for settlement activities, and asked for another 78 million for the housing authority –to be used for settlements, plus 10 million more for expansion of the Tel-Rumeida settlement. In addition, the government asked for a large increase - to 50 million shekels, for education in religious values. All there are projects dear to the heart of the settlement lobby and the National Religious Party that has become their uncritical mouthpiece, and the allocations are intended to keep the NRP in the coalition.

George Bernard Shaw (or Winston Churchill?) is supposed to have asked a lady if she would sleep with him for a million pounds. "Certainly, she replied."

"Would you do it for a pound?"

"What do you think I am?"

"We’ve already established what you are. We are just haggling over the price."

Everyone in Israel has long known what the NRP - and other religious parties are - and we have been paying the price ‘religiously.’ So there is little doubt that the government will survive.

But not everyone is getting paid off. The stabbing of Rabbi Shlomo Ra’anan in the Hebron settlement of Tel-Rumeida, has provoked a storm of violent public protest not seen in Israel for many months. The demonstrations are not really about the death of one man. They are not about terror. They are not about "reciprocity." They are a battle for the land and against the peace.

On Sunday, Right wing activist Baruch Marzel and his friends mobbed the President of Israel and called him a spy. The President had come to Hebron to pay his respects to the widow of Rabbi Ra’anan. Angry demonstrators gathered outside the home of Defense Minister Mordechai and screamed "Murderer." Mordechai said "They will not influence me, they will not deflect me from my way. I am not afraid of extremists. Extremist groups will not achieve anything by violence." Does all this sound familiar? Haven’t we all seen this movie?

In the settlement of Yizhar, the self-styled vanguard of the Jewish People threatened to shoot IDF soldiers. The soldiers were trying to help Palestinians get to their lands, closed off and taken by force by the settlers. The soldiers backed off. Is this a taste of things to come?

Nobody arrested Baruch Marzel. He was supposed to surrender voluntarily to the police Monday for questioning, but he didn’t bother to show up. Nobody arrested the people in Yizhar; nobody arrested the people threatening Defense Minister Mordechai.

The Yesha Council was quick to disown Marzel and ask that he be removed from Hebron, saying that he represents nobody. Yigal Amir, assassin of Yitzhak Rabin, also represented nobody supposedly. But Marzel is not alone. His friends were all carrying signs calling Weizmann a traitor. Graffiti on walls in Tel Rumeida and elsewhere - even in the Old city of Jerusalem, proclaim "Death to the Arabs" and "Prepare for Baruch Goldstein II." In Hebron, Israeli TV cameras caught mobs of little children attacking Arab stalls in the market place as soon as the backs of the IDF were turned. The settlers and their advocates have become a law unto themselves, they can say what they want and do as they please.

Very soon the government – and the Israeli people – will need to come to terms with what should have been evident after the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin. The occupation has warped Israeli society. It has created a sub-society, an uncontrollable monstrous settler lobby. Netanyahu thinks there is no danger as long as the monster is well fed. So the monster eats, and grows and wants more. The government can only feed some of the heads of this monster - NRP, Yesha Council, Ateret Kohanim. It can only give them so much.