They must be scared

Wow! I knew they would punish the soldier who refused to shake the hand of generalissimo Halutz, but I had no idea how far they would go.

In a quick kangaroo court the army prosecutor took away the soldier's $1,500 prize as well as the award. They then removed him from his unit and took away his ability to serve as an officer in the army.

Keep in mind, that there are no army protocols which demand that the soldier shake thee hand of the top general nor was such an order ever given. And Dayan did salute Halutz as army regulations require.

My eyebrows are raised when even a decorated lefty such as MK Zahava Galon (Meretz) declares that the punishment is totally out of proportion.

So what is happening here? Certain people are VERY scared that the RZ community is showing the budding signs of leadership. They are VERY scared that they are slowly losing their oligarchy. What we are witnessing is a realigning of the Israeli political world. What used to be a left/right division is becoming a religious/secular one. Shimon Peres declared that Kadima and Labor should join into one party since there is really no difference between the two. He is right. Kadima is the new Mapai, a bully with more of a hunger for power than an ideology. The RZ are the new Cheirut party. It took 30 years for Menachem Begin to break the Mapai oligarchy only to lead the path for the likud to become the new Mapai. Let's hope it takes less time for us to break the new/old ruling regime.