In the past few weeks, support for a referendum has slowly but surely been growing. Both of Israel's major newspapers, Yediot Acharonot and Maariv, have come out in favor of the idea, as has Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and coalition partner United Torah Judaism. Polls also consistently show a majority of the Israeli people in favor of a referendum or new elections. All this doesn't interest Ariel Sharon, of course, who would just as soon rule without bothering with trivial little concerns such as what the people want.



But if the people want a referendum against Sharon's wishes, he really has only himself to blame. Running on a platform opposed to the expulsion plan and then, after winning office, favoring it, doesn't do much to promote rule "of the people, by the people and for the people." When Amram Mitzna, the much-lauded and quickly forgotten former head of the Labor Party, ran in the last elections on a platform supporting disengagement, Sharon wasted no time trashing the idea. According to the Jerusalem Post of January 9, 2003, the exact words used by Sharon were: "Those who espouse unilateral disengagement under fire, to this line or that, only increase terror." The public apparently agreed with him, doubling the Likud's mandates to almost 40 and chopping the Labor party's by over a third.



Of course, lying to the public prior to an election is nothing new in Israel. When Yitzhack Rabin ran in 1992, he promised not to negotiate with the PLO nor negotiate surrender of the Golan. Ehud Barak promised prior to his election not to divide Jerusalem. So much for promises. But if politicians want to implement left-wing policies, why don't they simply run on left-wing platforms? Perhaps it has something to do with wanting to get elected.



Sharon's own explanation for not holding a referendum is not exactly clear. It depends on which excuse he favors on any particular day. One time, he will claim that he just can't spare the time; as if an extra couple of months will somehow cause the end of the world. Another time, he will say the cost is prohibitive; spending NIS 50 million on a referendum is just too extravagant. Of course, spending NIS 5 billion to expel 8,500 Jews from their homes is totally reasonable. According to this reasoning, Sharon simply doesn't have the time or money for democracy. But there may be a simpler reason, as recently hinted by new Tourism Minister Avraham Hirshchenson - Sharon's afraid he will lose.



Sharon's fear of losing is justified. While the supporters of the expulsion plan like to cite polls claiming a majority in favor, everyone remembers the polls heavily favoring Shimon Peres to beat Binyamin Netanyahu prior to the elections of 1996, as well as the more recent polls promising that Likud party members favored "disengagement".



Sharon's fear of referendums is apparently newly founded. Six months ago, after losing a vote in the Likud party's Central Committee on his plan, he was all ready to give himself a second chance and carry out a referendum on the issue amongst the Likud party's entire membership. Before the referendum, Sharon even graciously promised he would abide by its results, as if honoring democratic votes requires a special dispensation. But when he found he had lost again, he unfortunately forgot the part about honoring the vote.



Of course, democracy without free speech is a sham. You can't deny people the information they need in order to make an informed decision and then, when they vote, call it democracy. Just because someone disagrees with you is no reason to shut his mouth. Allowing the closure of the "settler's radio station", Arutz Sheva, and censoring the only major voice opposed to his plan might have won Sharon friends with the country's elite, but did nothing for the cause of freedom of expression, on which democracy depends. Just as bad was the decision by former Justice Minister Yosef Lapid to force the only religious owner of a commercial television station to sign an agreement forbidding him to make any decisions regarding the programming on his own station. As Maariv editorial page editor Dror Yemini recently pointed out, such was the case when Shlomo Ben-Tzvi recently purchased a majority share in Channel 10. Yet, even with their mouths muzzled, the settlers say they will honor a vote on the plan.



Obviously, winning a vote won't make the expulsion of Jews from their homes morally right. Just because the majority of white South Africans voted to deny basic rights to their country's black population didn't make Apartheid right. And just because the Israeli electorate has the chance to deny some Jews their rights and initiate an ethnic cleansing in Gaza doesn't make it right either. But it will make it democratic.



If there really is a majority in favor of the Disengagement Plan, then stop with the excuses and prove it. So, how about it, Arik? For once, let's try democracy and letting the people decide.