Bingo-king Irving Moscowitz has come to Israel for a brief visit, to determine who will lead this state for the next four years.

Moskowitz has declared that he is prepared to contribute a million dollars to Benny Begin, on the condition that Begin succeeds in uniting the extreme Right and turning it into a decisive factor in the elections. He has also decided to begin construcing his provocateurs' citadel in Ras-Al Amud --an act certain to bring about bloodshed even before the elections. He is dictating to us our national agenda: The destruction of the Oslo Accords, resumption of war, Greater Israel, Jewish theocracy, more and more settlements, more and more dead, more and more blood and tears. As for Moscowitz, both he and his family will watch the spectacle from afar, praying for us.

Moscowitz is not unique. Dozens of billionaires are running our lives by remote control. Not all are gambling kings. There is also the mob, as well as regular businessmen -- individuals who have accumulated wealth, in one way or another, and who are willing to set aside a certain portion of it for the election of our next Prime Minister, and for controlling Israel's future. After all, these are good Jews, and this is a Jewish state.

I do not believe that there is another state anywhere in the world with this phenomenon. People from other countries, who do not share our fate, who do not pay Israeli taxes, whose sons and daughters do not serve in our army, who do not bear the consequences of our government's actions, are the ones who call the shots in our elections.

It is, of course, a state of affairs which existed in the American colonies at one time. When the Americans were finally fed up with this state of affairs, their war for independence began. The vast majority of colonists came from England, bringing with them the English traditions, yet they refused to allow London to run the show in America. So, too, did the Spanish in South America, sending back home the emissaries from Madrid, declaring themselves new and independent states.

Yet we Israelis continue to live in a colonial reality. Israel is an occupied territory. But unlike other occupied lands, we are not rebelling against our occupiers. The state of affairs seems perfectly natural to us. After all, aren't the occupiers Jews themselves? And isn't Israel -- as it clearly states in one of our laws -- "The State of the Jewish People?" The Jewish people in Brooklyn and in Florida.

Anyone setting his sights on the Premiership of Israel heads off to America "to fundraise." Binyamin Netanyahu devoted a few years to an intensive campaign among American Jewish millionaires, from Mister Ron Lauder to Rabbi Irwing Moscowitz. Those, in turn, financed his invasion of the State of Israel: At first the takeover of the Likud, followed by the takeover of the entire state. Ehud Barak, as well, has devoted some time "to woo the millionaires," as a preamble to the struggle for the Premiership. And, most recently, Roni Milo has also done the same. Ergo: do not even dream of running for the Premiership unless you have the solid backing of a bunch of Jewish multimillionaires who have no intention of settling in Israel themselves.

But money is not the sole determining factor in this game. On the eve of election day, planeloads of haredim arrive, some living and some dead (as rumor has it), and, having cast their ballots, fly back home. In other words, thousands of non-Israeli residents with a fictitious Israeli citizenship, who can't tell the difference between Kiryat Arbah and Kiryat Shmoneh, who will not suffer if Syrian gas-laden missilies or Iranian nuclear missiles rain on Israel some day as a result of the policies dictated by them, are the ones who end up determining whether we face war or peace.

The last election was determined by 29,457 votes -- and one can safely assume that an even greater number of haredim had been sent to Israel by the Lubavitch and their ilk for a quick voting visit of a few hours.

This foreign control over our state is not limited to election day. The Moscowitzes have played a key role in turning the haredi/messianic/nationalistic camp into a dominant force in our country. This camp has vast financial resources at its disposal. They can establish broadcasting stations, settlements, newspapers, organizations and unlimited propaganda-campaigns, without any limits on their means -- against the pathetic means of the peace camp, which essentially subsists on a hand-to-mouth basis. Only a portion of the nationalist camp monies is robbed from state coffers. The rest comes from the foreign tycoons. Some of these tycoons -- narcotics and gambling czars, owners of nursing homes in disgracefully shoddy condition, and other unsavory businesses -- contribute money to atone for their sins and earn a ticket to the hereafter. Others are content with this earthly world --contributing to the candidate who will, in time, give them a hefty allotment of the State spoils.

No party is standing up to this disgraceful state of affairs, because all parties hope to get a slice of the pie. When the law of party-funding was passed in early 1973, the creators of the law (the two large parties) rationalized the robbery of the public coffers by claiming that this bill would put a stop to corrupt practices of party-financing by private interests. But the law had deliberately left a huge loophole: It did not put any limits on contributions from abroad.

In the renowned playright Friedrich Durrenmatt's play "The Old Lady's Visit," the title character comes to visit from abroad, and uses her wealth to turn the villagers into murderers. The Moscowitzes are trying to turn all the citizens of Israel into suicides.

There is only one way to rid us of this conquest: To enact a basic law which would categorically prohibit the acceptance of contributions from foreigners, whether to finance elections or for any other political reason.