"I approach my work with holy fear," wrote Uri Zeki excitedly when he was appointed chairman of the Herzl Center less than a year ago. Even the skeptics among us, who wondered how a man from "Betzlem" could head such a state, national, Zionist and representative body, had to admit: Zechi does not wink at the banal anti-Zionist material that you find in every prospectus of the radical leftist organizations in Israel. "From a young age I adored the state contract," he shared at the same event. "As a teenager, among the posters of The Beatles, Dorez, and Ponzi, there was a picture of him hanging." He confessed, and explained: "Herzl was a prophet, a priest and a king: a man who came out of nowhere with a revolutionary idea, built a movement and institutions and led a large public." In the face of such things, even the most fortified wall of cynicism falls. "Now," he concluded with typical fervor for someone who has waited all his life for the opportunity to realize his admiration for the contract and the symbol, "I have the right to promote his legacy."What can be said, our Uri was born for the job.
Quite quickly, a month or two later, we got to know a little more closely the mechanics that promoted the man to his vocation, in Tomer Michelson's investigation in "The Hottest Place in Hell".
It was a political job that would be assigned to Meretz as part of the coalition agreements, and its actual filling was brought forward, at the request of Minister Tamar Zandberg - Zeki's partner - and at the request of Meretz, of whom Zeki was the chairman of the board.
Uri Zaki, spouse of Environment Minister Tamar Zandberg, photo: Gideon Markovitch
Job deserves some respect too
This background material should not detract from the credibility of Zaki the man's "holy anxiety", but it should have provoked a discussion about clean hands, about new politics, about governmental norms and the emptiness behind the inflated moral sermons about the corruption of the Jobbers and the scumbags of the "previous regime" .
It doesn't cost money to show off that "it's possible otherwise".
But these were the early days of the change government, when we were still enthusiastic as boys about "maximum class with zero effort" of servants and wives other than Miri and Sarah, and we naively believed in the hashtag "#we_came_to_work".
Since then we have grown up, and when Kalman Libeskind from "Maariv" completed the picture with his own investigation into the manner of Zeki's appointment, it was already too late to ignite political emotions.
Investigations should also have timing.
And timing is a key word in the next stage of the plot: not even a year in office, and Zaki, who came to the position of his life thanks to a dubious political appointment, is already experiencing a drop in the level of "holy anxiety", and announces his candidacy in the Meretz primaries.
If he wins - and his chances are not bad - he will jump from hill to hill in Jerusalem.
Sometimes even a devout social democrat finds it difficult to resist the temptations of relocation.
And this, perhaps more than any revelation about the pressures and exploits of connections and combinations and conflicts of interest - should insult Herzl's bones, and our civil conscience.
Zaki, obviously, will also carry with him to the bureau in the Knesset a picture of Herzl, after all it has been by his bedside since the age of 14. But the "right that fell to me to promote his legacy" - he waves off his back as soon as an option for an upgrade comes his way.
And on the face of it, that's fine: life opens up unexpected opportunities for us, and sometimes one of them will have the words "make a quick decision".
But this time it is difficult to reconcile the contradiction between the pathos of the "holy anxiety" upon entering the position - and the blatant instrumentality of jumping from it to the Knesset.
What message does Uri Zaki convey to us, when in less than a year he is already giving up a position that he himself presented as a sacred mission?
What message does he convey to the institution he heads?
So quickly, at the tick-tock pace, does the moral, educational, national commitment end - to the Herzl legacy?
For this they fought, demanded, pressured, pushed, rounded corners, complained about ethics, closed their eyes and pushed a little more with their feet so that one of our own would get the appointment?
A person accepts an appointment - and the circumstances and methods are not important at the moment - it is appropriate that he bear responsibility.
Political job or not, there should be a minimum of respect for a state position.
Being the head of a national institution is not a chore between jobs: it is a tenure that should be done with the momentum of leadership, of leadership, of an organizational and philosophical worldview, of a willingness to mobilize and advance the institution entrusted to you from point A to point B.
Abstaining from the position and the responsibility you have assumed is an embezzlement of the public trust that accompanies the appointment, and is an example of dishonesty not only towards the institution but also towards others who, like Zaki, may have wanted, hoped, wished - but were never considered.
Mount Herzl, the jumping mount
And it's not that political windows of opportunity aren't opening up in Israel.
More elections will come in the next two or three years, if not sooner.
This train arrives at the station quite frequently lately.
You can wait patiently for the next train.
There was something graceful about Zeki's political involvement while in office.
In the old, state world of the past, he was expected to avoid political statements when he was at the head of such a national and symbolic institution.
But Zechi became famous on social networks and in television studios - and it can be said to his credit that he contributed to the removal of the false neutrality mantle, and taught us that it is possible and permissible to be independent and opinionated at the same time.
I actually liked it.
But the jump to the primaries in Meretz symbolizes Siob: not a feeling of "fell into the privilege", but of "it's mine in the taboo".
A lordship that illustrates how easily national institutions, including the most sacred ones, become political outposts, a pit to dig into, or simply a springboard.
Mount Herzl was the jumping mount.
His entry into the position is questionable, and his willingness to leave it in less than a year is tantamount to kicking proper governmental norms and respect for public assets.
Now it remains to be seen if Zechi still retains the position until after the primaries, as an employment insurance policy.
Hold back, win, hold back.
The Zandberg family can survive for several years without a representative in the Israeli Knesset.
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