I won't say that it does not come at a great cost to my health to write these words, but I have no choice. I know that it is my duty.

To get right to the point: We must bring Shas into the next coalition. We mustn't listen to our feelings, which dictate the opposite. We have to listen to cold and clear reason.

Every logical thought begins with the question: What should be the main line of effort? It is a principle of strategy. The first order of action is to determine what is the objective at the top of the priority scale. Only after that can one weigh the remaining important issues by one single measure: Do they contribute to the achievement of this main objective?

There are those who say the chief goal should be the passing of a written constitution and the securing of the rights of the secular majority. This is a crucial goal. But I think that there is one goal that supersedes it at this juncture and that is a signing of the final peace accords with Palestine and Syria, within one year. There are many reasons for this, but the writer Amos Oz has expressed it most succinctly: War kills people, the lack of a constitution does not kill people.

If establishing an immediate peace is the main line of effort, then all reasoning leads to the inclusion of Shas in the government. Here is why:

• We now have a historical opportunity to bring the majority of the Oriental Jewish community into the fold of the peace camp. It would be impossible to install peace with this community opposing it.
• Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is genuinely a man of peace. In recent years he hasn't dared to admit it publicly, since the majority of Shas voters have been fanatical nationalists. Now conditions have changed. The majority of the Israeli voters have chosen peace.
• One mustn't bring Likud into the coalition, even if it is fractured. The rehabilitation of Likud would depend on its ability to sabotage the peace efforts. Ariel Sharon would wage an internal guerrilla war against those efforts.
• We absolutely mustn't bring the National Religious Party, the party of the settlers, into the coalition. It would be a veritable Trojan horse.
• The slogan "Dry Up Shas!" is an illusion. Any government which would include Likud would not dry up Shas, because Likud knows very well that it could never hope to get back into the driver's seat without a partnership with the haredim. Neither will Ehud Barak declare war on the haredim.
• President Johnson once said about a particular individual: "It is better that he stands inside the tent and piss outside instead of the other way round."

Yes, it is irritating and objectionable. There are so many bad memories, from the curses of Rabbi Ovadia to the amulets of Rabbi Kadouri. There are also some very real considerations for not bringing this party into the coalition. But the logical consideration supersedes them all. Subject to specific conditions:

• First of all, a narrow-base government must be formed, in order to demonstrate that it is feasible to have a government even without Shas. This is very important both from the political as well as from the psychological standpoint. It must be stressed that Shas has won a truly Pyrrhic victory. Even though the party has grown dramatically, the government does not really need it; its blackmailing capacity has been lost.
• A narrow-base government must define a clear-cut and practical peace plan. Shas would have to commit itself to its entirety as well as to supporting the final peace agreement in a national referendum.
• Aryeh Deri must disappear from the party's leadership, both de

facto and de jure.

• The Ministry of the Interior must remain in secular hands. But we have to remember: It is much more important that the Ministry of Education, a hostage in the hands of the religious camp, be turned over to a secular Minister. Education will determine whether we are one people or a loose federation of separate sectors.

The battle against a takeover by the religious, and against the spread of superstitions, mustn't be waged on a governmental coalition plane, and over a range of a few weeks. It must be waged, instead, on the ground and over a long time. We have to open free kindergartens and daycare facilities for all and dramatically improve the quality and scope of the national education system. Only then can we create a new reality in which a party such as Shas cannot flourish. The awakening of a secular consciousness must lead to a determined and sustained effort to shape the character of the state. There are no easy solutions, and they cannot be achieved in the framework of the coalitionary games.

The battle between the secular and the religious is now in vogue. It has a high rating in the media. But its outcome has not been determined by this election, when both combatants have gained in strength. On the other hand, the outcome of the battle over peace has been determined. All of the enemies of peace have been defeated: The party of the settlers (The NRP), the parties of Greater Israel and of Transfer (National Unity), and the party of the despoilers of the Oslo Accords (Likud). The party of the Golan (The Third Way) has gone entirely off the radar screen, together with Rafael Eitan's party. The people have smitten them all. Let us not permit them to recover!

The window of opportunity, slammed shut with Rabin's assassination, has now opened again. Maybe for the last time, for a long time. Let us not allow it to shut again!