To understand the nature of the miracle being hoped for, we must go back to an earlier day in the history of Israel, though not quite as far back as Biblical times. In the movie Sallah Shabbati, a penniless Yemenite immigrant, desperate to feed his huge household and unable to find any kind of work, gets down on his knees and prays to the Lord God of Israel. Sure enough, He who stood by us in all generations does not fail Salah either, for a great shaft of light burst forth from the darkness of despair, illuminating a sign:

"NOTICE - Knesset of Israel - Elections."

The Lord shall not fail us this time either, for he has seen the suffering of Israel, and behold - the interest rates were lowered by 1.4%. Less devout people might believe that this was the work of Bibi Netanyahu (he hastened to take credit for it), and had something to do with the elections that are creeping up on us. There was also talk of increased spending for social welfare programs.

There is also a plan for a war on unemployment. It consists of lowering unemployment benefits and freezing the minimum wage. In this war, the government considers that the enemy are the unemployed. But the unemployed can be induced to blame their plight on the foreign workers and the Palestinians.

The opposition should take notice: it is probably not the economy, stupid, because, stupid, in Israel the government can usually manipulate the economy any which way for a brief time. Not enough to make a basic change, but enough to produce a temporary sense of prosperity and win an election. After the election, the neglect of the substrate, the wasted money on settlements and Yeshivot, the investment lost because of lack of confidence in the peace process, will all come back to haunt us. But do not count on the economy as an election issue.

The number one issues, which the opposition has signally failed to bring home to the Israeli public, are that we need a government that acts in the best interests of Israel and guards our security, as one reader wrote to me. What are those interests, and how can we guard security?

Establishing a strategic partnership with the U.S. and with countries in the region - include our Arab neighbors This cannot really be done unless the Palestinian conflict is settled.

Spending scarce defense dollars on advanced weaponry, training and R & D, rather than on guarding settlements.

Building a strong economy based on trade with neighboring countries.

Not ruling another people, because this creates an inherently unhealthy and unstable situation.

Building a strong society based on democratic values and creative labor.

It is that simple. Netanyahu and his settler allies are not bringing us closer to any of these goals- quite the contrary. Building more settlements in the West Bank will not stop terror, will not make the PNA more democratic (a frequent excuse for non-implementation of Oslo) and will not contribute to security.

The conception of security offered by the Right is illustrated by the reaction to the ambush at Yitzhar, in which two settler guards were murdered over a ‘land dispute.’ The government response is to build more houses at Yitzhar and bring more settlers. Terror is wrong, but building more houses on other people’s land will not help stop terror. Especially not when the people who live in those houses are not capable of defending themselves. If Yitzhar is key element in Israel’s security, in fact, if it is of any value at all, then the IDF should set up an outpost there. This would not require expropriation of land, and would be much more effective in guarding security than are the settlers.

Those who count on miracles to save the economy also count on miracles to safeguard Israel. If they are correct, then indeed we must support the settlers in Yitzhar. In their picturesque green and white Purim Biblical costumes,. they are undoubtedly in the best position to handle the miracle department. But to my mind, if those people represent the future of Israel and Zionism, as they claim, then the rest of us less holier than thou folks - right and left - had best leave now.

Ehud Barak, returning Sunday from the United States, promised to bring a clear message to the Israeli public. We are waiting, Ehud.

Ami Isseroff