Israel Matzav

THE PROBLEM is that however wonkish Kadima's leaders may be, they are not, in fact competent. Diplomatically the promised "iron wall" of international support for their declared policy of isolating Hamas held up for less than a day. Far from enhancing Israel's security, their unilateral retreat from Gaza brought Hamas to power and enabled Gaza's transformation into a global terror base and launching ground for rocket and mortar attacks against southern Israel. And Kadima's wonks can do nothing to remedy this situation.

Since they are dedicated to continuing the implementation of Sharon's expulsion and retreat policy, they cannot admit that its implementation in Gaza was responsible for bringing Hamas to power. Similarly, they cannot admit that Hamas is a threat to Israel, since they plan to further empower it by giving it Judea and Samaria.

And if Hamas is not a threat, then there is no reason for the international community to boycott it. As well, since their only policy is the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Judea and Samaria, Kadima's wonks cannot recognize or address the dangers that are all but certain to greet Israel if the Hamas jihad state is extended to the doorways of every major city in Israel. They can make no note of the dangers that such a Hamas state will constitute for the Hashemite regime in Jordan and the American-supported government in Iraq.

Policies built around cost-benefit analyses based on polling data and daily State Department press briefings - while perhaps necessary for a party based on nothing - are incapable of contending with the threats Israel faces and the responsibilities the government holds toward its citizenry and its allies.

Tragically, the public is not able to see this because, with the help of the elections law and the media, Kadima has been able to obfuscate the shortcomings of its central policy and the incompetence of its leaders. Indeed Kadima has been able to make hating Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu the central issue of the elections.

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THE ELECTIONS law has facilitated Kadima's campaign by placing censorious limitations on political speech. In the current non-ideological atmosphere many of Israeli society's previously shared assumptions have been undermined. As a result soundbites like "Gaza has turned into Hamastan" are no longer automatically understood.

Now they have to be explained.

The elections law bars political parties from buying airtime and so limits their broadcasting rights to short, state-financed commercials where they are incapable of transmitting anything but telegraphed messages. That is, the elections law blocks public debate.

Unable to communicate its ideologically-grounded policy message in its ads, the Likud was at the mercy of Kadima and the centralized media to get its messages out. It needed Kadima, because without Olmert's consent there could be no candidates' debate. It needed the media, because in the absence of paid advertising or a televised debate, only the media could provide a forum for the Likud (and every other party) to engage the public in a discussion of its policies.

Olmert, whose message can only be effectively represented by soundbites, understandably refused to debate Netanyahu and Labor's Amir Peretz. Far from providing a forum for political discussion, the media effectively blocked all debate.

As Israel state radio and television correspondent Yaron Dekel noted on Sunday, the media injected itself as an actor in this campaign in a manner unprecedented in Israeli electoral history.

Indeed, many observers have charged that Channel 2 and Yediot Aharonot (which both enjoy monopoly shares of their respective markets) destroyed the Likud and created Kadima by demonizing the Likud Central Committee and Likud opponents of Sharon's expulsion and retreat policy for two and a half years; and by manufacturing public pressure and backing for the establishment of Kadima for the past year and a half.

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