Most of the names being mentioned as candidates for the presidency are worthy people. In ordinary times they could even succeed, certainly no less well than some of their predecessors, in this lofty representative position. The times, however, are definitely not ordinary: The institution of the presidency, like that of the government, the Knesset, the General Staff, even the legal system and, for many, primarily the Supreme Court have lost considerable prestige and public confidence in recent years.

At present, particularly at present, when MKs are putting forth candidates for the presidency, they should ask themselves whether the candidates have the force of personality to elevate this institution once again. In other words: to bring together ethnic groups, diasporas and nationalities who live here, to set a personal example in relationships between man and his fellow man, his community, his country, his nation and the world in which we live. The person who becomes president faces the task of restoring confidence in the central symbols of the state, confidence shaken or even lost, mainly due to improper behavior and defective functioning on the part of previous presidents. It is no trivial matter.

The crisis of confidence in the presidency coincides with the crisis of confidence in the commanders of the Israel Defense Forces and in the government leadership. All the central public positions are now in need of new people who are capable of restoring public confidence in the country's future, in the ability of its institutions, including the IDF, to function, and in the future of the Zionist dream. The confused Jews of the Diaspora also need to have their confidence in the state restored, some perhaps even more so than do Israeli citizens. Their Jewish identity, and in quite a number of places even their status among their neighbors, depend on Israel. A profound moral crisis in Israel, said one of the notable figures in American Jewry at a Sukkot event, intensifies the severance from the community, in other words assimilation, and weakens identification with Israel. A moral, just and strong Israel is a cornerstone for the continuation of Jewish existence in the Diaspora as well.

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The people who have to fill the positions whose incumbents have lost the people's confidence cannot come from the ranks of those who have been or will be acquitted, or who will not stand trial for lack of evidence. The nation will believe in the government institutions once again only if the integrity and the leadership ability of those in central positions are unimpeachable. One of those people is Natan Sharansky, who recently resigned from the Knesset to establish, along with others, a task force that will search for ways of ensuring the state's existence for many years to come, and not only in military terms.

It is not only the institution of the presidency that he has the power to rehabilitate. Sharansky, who survived the Soviet hell, is capable of restoring confidence in our ability to overcome our profound national crises, as well as the confidence of Diaspora Jewry, for whom he is a hero. He is very familiar with all the sectors of the overseas public and maintains close ties with them. He is welcomed with affection and warmth by all the streams. He may be the most popular Israeli in the Jewish world.

Sharansky is also one of the few Israelis who is respected and admired by world leaders and public figures, for whom - and to a large extent for whose people as well - he is a symbol of a fearless struggle for human rights. Time magazine chose him recently, for convincing reasons, as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. His most recent book, "The Case for Democracy," aroused great interest in the West, especially in the United States. President George W. Bush recommended to Americans to read the book and to nations who do not enjoy full democracy, particularly the nations of the Middle East, to study it and to adopt its messages.

In recent years, Israel's enemies have greatly intensified their efforts to negate the legitimacy of the existence of the Jewish state - with considerable success. A man like Sharansky, with his international reputation as a fighter for human rights, not an armchair fighter but one who paid the full price, can effectively fight this steadily growing phenomenon.

But most important, as we have said, is the mending of internal rifts. About one million new immigrants from the Commonwealth of Independent States live in Israel, many of them suffering from a sense of alienation. The choice of Sharansky is likely to strengthen the identification of this important community (whose contribution is of unparalleled importance) with the country that offered it refuge and restored it physically and economically, but made quite a few mistakes (also with other immigrant groups) in social and cultural absorption. Sharansky has a proper relationship with the Arab sector, especially from his time as interior minister, as well as with the "orange ribbons" (the right-wing religious Zionists) who in recent years have been feeling considerable alienation from the state. His character is likely to help these sectors to identify once again with the state. Success is not guaranteed, but if anyone can achieve it, he is the one.