Opinion Where are they all running to? | Israel today

The primary season is an opportunity to look at those who leave everything and enter politics.

33 candidates fought for individual Labor Party seats.

110 candidates dreamed of becoming Knesset members on behalf of the Likud.

16 candidates hope to be selected for the religious Zionist list, which is currently hovering in the area of ​​the blocking percentage.

23 candidates will compete for the right to represent Meretz, which is also faltering in the polls.

The race to become an MK succeeds in dragging people who have something to lose. Prominent lawyers, social activists, key people in local authorities. Stars in their field are ready to become junior MKs to enact laws.

The office of the MK is like the piper from Hamlin, making people of value action think that the Knesset of Israel is the central and most important arena of influence in the country. But they are wrong.

The question of what our life will look like here, with all its richness and complexity, is not decided in the Knesset.

After all, MKs have to respond to the will of the public; this is the essence of representative democracy. The public marks the North Star and the limits of legitimacy to its elected representatives. But who marks them to the public? How is the spirit of the times shaped? In what courts is it decided what is seen as appropriate and valuable in our eyes? There is only one answer to this: In culture. Okay, okay, right - a little more in the education system, a little more at home, but mostly in culture. A thousand bills by the Noam party to preserve Jewish identity will not do what one concert tour by Yishai Rivo will do; a thousand polished feminist speeches from the Knesset podium will not fix The educational damage caused by footballers who messed with minors; a thousand programs to encourage recruitment will be dwarfed by a picture of celebrities who left everything to report for reserve service.

True, the separation is not so sharp.

Obviously, good laws are desirable.

It is clear that diligent and honest elected officials, who promote the worthy goals, are an asset for generations.

There is no doubt that structural revolutions in the country are happening only in Jerusalem.

But those who are looking for a broad public influence should understand that it also takes place in completely different areas: he should write the bestsellers, the hymns, the series, the advertisements;

You have to sit in the culture committees and the fashion teams and design the buildings and the ceremonies.

Politics can be an important player in this arena and broadly and justly channel budgets and opportunities (or eliminate them), but it functions as a regulator - not as a creator.

Where did Sheli Yachimowitz have more influence - as the chairperson of the Labor Party or as a television presenter who appeared on every screen in every home? Will Tomer Avital's failure to be elected to the labor list for the Knesset weaken his fight for parliamentary transparency or allow him to focus on it? And Rabbi Rafi Peretz, who left an educational and cultural enterprise Magnificent in order to sign a political agreement and violate it and serve as minister for the heritage of Jerusalem - did the audience that listens to him with sparkling eyes increase or decrease during his term? A strong and prosperous country needs people of spirit and action to function in all areas of life. MKs can promote and influence, but the fundamental influence on the character of Israel takes place elsewhere.

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