I'll get to Yisrael Beiteinu eventually but what I really want to do is luxuriate over this little story so I'll meander a bit.

In my undistinguished army career as a combat medic, there was one thing I resolutely refused to do: wear gumiyot, those rubber bands that keep the cuffs of your pants tight around the boots. We all have our red lines. In fact, once I was doing all-night guard duty at one of the border crossings with Jordan together with another fellow and we were both standing in position when some guy with falafels on his shoulder (I never bothered learning the names of the ranks in my many years in the army) shows up to check on us at 4:00 AM. (The fact that we were both awake and in position is not to be taken for granted and the only reason it happened is that my partner was engaging me in learning and being mefalpel in some difficult sugya. This wouldn't be remarkable except that the only things this fellow had less use for than amhaaratzim were shabbos and kashrus.) Anyhoo, this officer had to do something to assert his superiority in this particular situation so he had me tried and convicted for not wearing gumiyot. The jail sentence was suspended but I do believe it is on my Permanent Record.

All this I mention only as an introduction to an introduction to my story. During the early days of Oslo, on a different stint of reserve duty, this time in Elon Moreh, my commander took me up to the very isolated top of nearby Har Kabir, which overlooks the whole area of Shechem (including Har Brachah, Itamar, Yitzhar, Tapuach). There we met the Machat (Battalion Commander) of the Shechem area. He looks me up and down and says "where are your gumiyot?". My commander says, "This is Dr. Chorin; he doesn't wear gumiyot." The Machat says, "you'll be securing the area for a big meeting today, so just for an hour or two you'll need gumiyot." I buckled.

Finally, to the point. It was indeed a big meeting. A helicopter lands next to me and out hop the head of the Shabak, Carmi Gillon (then known as "Kaf"), his deputy, "Yud", the head of Army Intelligence, Rabin's security advisor, Yossi Ginosar (actually serving illegally since the High Court had disqualified him for one of the crimes for which he'd been caught), head of the Central Command (Aluf Pikud Hamerkaz), Ilan Biran, and a couple more Generals. I was the only person there who was armed. Except for Biran, who said hi, the rest acted as if I were made of glass.

Anyway, they were up there to discuss the route of a new road from Elon Moreh, via the other settlements, down to Tapuach Junction. Biran, who knew what he was talking about, was carefully explaining the issues. The braintrust of the Israeli military began asking questions such as "where exactly is Shechem?". You've got to understand that from Har Kabir, this is something like standing on the observation deck of the Empire State Building and asking where the Chrysler Building is. They fretted about Arab claims to the barren land on which the road would be built. They all sounded exceptionally clueless but by far the biggest idiot was "Yud", who kept asking why another road was necessary. What's wrong with the existing road? Finally, Biran couldn't take it any more and blurts out, "You don't get it, do you? The existing road goes through Shechem. Tzahal is leaving Shechem. We can't leave these people to the mercy of the terrorist in Shechem. Get it?!" He didn't.

I mention this now because "Yud" is Yisrael Hasson, number 3 on the Yisrael Beiteinu list for the Knesset.