JERUSALEM — Speeding in his taxi through the empty streets at 3 a.m. Tuesday, Yaakov Amsalem shouts victoriously as he describes the rush he felt after Ehud Barak’s dramatic victory just a few hours earlier.
By his own admission, Amsalem is the only left-leaning cab driver in his fleet. And he feels vindicated after enduring three years of abuse from colleagues during the tenure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“This victory has uplifted me. I feel like an Israeli again,” says Amsalem, who voted for Barak and the secular Shinui Party, which won six Knesset seats. “But we have to be careful not to break the religious — just to reduce them to their real size.”
In contrast to the massive, spontaneous celebrations at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, the mood in Jerusalem is subdued the day after Israel’s political upheaval. The holy city has long been a Likud stronghold. Jerus-alemites proved that again Monday, voting overwhel-mingly for Netanyahu.
Smiles on the faces of Labor/One Israel supporters contrast with dejected Likudniks, some of whom refuse to talk to reporters. At the same time, those who voted for fervently religious parties have mixed feelings.
The devout are mourning the defeat of Netanyahu — whom the vast majority backed — yet they are rejoicing in the big boost in power for fervently religious, parties.
Shas jumped from 10 to 17 seats. And together with United Torah Judaism, the fervently religious parties now command 22 seats in the incoming parliament, compared to 14 in the outgoing Knesset.
There is one consensus among winners and losers: They both recognize Barak’s enormous challenge in bridging the gulfs between Jews and Arabs, religious and secular, Sephardim and Ashkenazim.
Binyamin Klugger, a 27-year-old Lubavitch activist who voted for Netanyahu and United Torah Judaism, is not optimistic.
“Barak’s rise to power is a disaster,” he says, as he sets up his tefillin stand on the Jerusalem pedestrian mall. “We will return to the days of ‘peace,’ when buses blew up on the streets. And all of his talk about unity is electioneering propaganda.”
Nevertheless, Klugger is still hopeful that the haredim will not be completely marginalized from power. “Barak will not be able to ignore our power,” he says.
Across the road, Elisheva Halbersberg and Nurit Nardi, both 56-year-old teachers and secular Jews, hope Klugger’s scenario will not play out. They are all smiles as they celebrate Barak’s victory during their morning shopping.
“It’s a fantastic feeling,” says Halbersberg, who voted for Barak and Shinui. “Since the assassination of Rabin, all I have hoped for is that there will be no more extremes among our people.
“What Israel decided yesterday was to put a stop to extremism. I only hope Barak will not bring Shas into the coalition — I would even prefer the Likud.”
Nardi, who voted for Barak and his One Israel alliance, rejects criticism that secular Jews are anti-religious.
“I do not hate religion,” Nardi says. “I am just extremely angry at the those who turned religion into horse-trading.”
People like Halbersberg and Nardi are exactly the reason that Herzl, a 44-year-old kiosk owner and traditional Likud voter who declined to give his last name, cast his ballot for Shas this time.
“I had to stop the left,” says Herzl, who stayed up until 3 a.m. Tuesday watching the results come in on television. “The big question now is who will Barak choose — Shas or the secular Shinui and Meretz parties. I am only afraid that the rift is about to get wider.”
However, amid the pessimism prevailing in Israel’s right-wing and religious camp, Yehuda Ledgeley, 29, a West Bank settler from Tekoa, offered a sober analysis.
Ledgeley, an immigrant from Canada, voted for Netanyahu and the far-right, settler-backed National Union Party led by Ze’ev “Benny” Begin. He is worried that Barak will take steps to evacuate the settlements as he presses ahead with the peace process. Still, Ledgeley says the religious community is responsible for the new power of secular parties.
“The religious community is partly to blame for the backlash. They have not conveyed a positive message on Judaism, and there is a lack of understanding of the needs of the other side. We are part of the problem. I’m trying to be optimistic. Ehud Barak may not be pro-religious, but maybe he is more suitable for this country right now.”