We were told that we were the fools for thinking that small outside parties could make a difference. We were told that the Likud represented something deeper, something that was more authentically Jewish and sane, which represented the lone solution for affecting change in Israel. I often wondered how long it would take until Moshe Feiglin saw the obvious.
I have no wish to kick a good man when he’s down. Yet at the present moment, when the culmination of Manhigut Yehudit’s well-intended (decade plus) debacle of “rehabilitating the Likud from within” remains fresh in our minds, I would like to share my reflections on the issue.
First things first: I told you so.
I’m not gloating. Others have stated it. And we were all correct, despite the insistence of Moshe Feiglin and the leadership of Manhigut Yehudit that the Likud was the only way to change Israel. What changed? You will recall that Bibi and Likud already did this to him before. Technically, Feiglin should have been enjoying his second tenure as an MK. The difference is that they were duped this time around by the Likud. The first time, Bibi made a concerted effort to vilify him. In recent years, Bibi downplayed any hostility and even complimented Feiglin. He lulled Feiglin into thinking that the Likud appreciated his efforts, even if they differed on many issues.
All of it was a clever tactic (keep your enemies close…) to ruin him at the height of his popularity. And now Feiglin has been forced to abandon the very party that he insisted was the ONLY hope for making authentic change in Israel..
I’m not a Feiglin basher, though I could never support his approach for a litany of reasons. Nevertheless, over time I began to appreciate many of his ideas, and I believe that he is the only prominent individual today in the political arena who has formulated a sophisticated program which deals with more than just the Arab question. Indeed, it is largely on the Arab question that I have issues with Feiglin’s approach, since it minimizes the present threat of Arab demography and has never broached the essential issue of transfer. Yet as I’ve said, I have come to appreciate him as a man of integrity and wisdom, and I feel that his inclusion in the political arena was a good thing; a very good thing.
I see him as a man of vision, wisdom, and integrity, yet he was fundamentally wrong on the critical issue of joining the Likud to change it. Prior to the announcement that he was leaving the Likud, I speculated on his options. I posted the following on my Facebook timeline. I stand by my sentiments:
“Feiglin has no good options, as I see it. To remain with Likud is to remain committed to the same institution that will seek to destroy him the next time around. To abandon his chosen path, is to expose that his 15+ years of insisting that the Likud is the only answer was incorrect. It would show integrity, but why should people buy into his next assessment and analysis? There are no good options for him.”
Perhaps the only positive thing that can come out of this mess is that the Likud has finally been exposed as a party of frauds who have gone to the extreme left and pushed the even more diseased left further entirely off the sane spectrum. The Likud of today is epitomized by the dishonest Bibi and his motley crew of misfits. The future of the Likud will be the “rising star” of today, the big talking, do-nothing Danny Danon who has the unlimited funds of American evangelical missionaries to further his career.
Let no decent man ever embark on such a folly again. The two main parties are comprised of weakling, appeasing frauds who have no integrity. The participants switch allegiances and parties with the frequency of eye-blinking patterns. The future of Israel can never come from such thoroughly corrupt entities.
The Likud Mythos
As recently as December 21st, 2014, Moshe Feiglin posted the following on his public Facebook page:
“The Likud has always been and will continue to be the leadership party of the National Camp. Although the Jewish Home ideology is similar to mine on many issues, all-encompassing leadership for the nation will not emerge from the Jewish Home. The Likud is a general party and the Jewish Home is a sectoral party. While Naftali Bennett, who I respect very much, has instituted some changes to make the party less sectoral, its basic DNA remains sectoral and not general. The Jewish Home party will make an excellent coalition partner under Likud leadership.”
Feiglin saw a sane core constituency of Likud that never existed in the real world. The reason for Likud’s popularity today is precisely because they stand for nothing, and the masses are impressed with speeches and little else. The Likud of Feiglin’s mind doesn’t exist. His plan of rehabilitating the Likud was a well-intended fantasy. Feiglin had years to prove that the real “Likudniks” were behind him and that the core constituency was in his corner. Past betrayals and beatings from within the Likud leadership, had no effect on him. Feiglin was steadfast. He continued to call for the other religious Zionist parties to join the Likud. Finally, Feiglin appears to have learned that the Likud is a dead end.
The Real Likud
From the beginning, the tactic was doomed to fail, since the notion of “the old true Likud” was a myth. Feiglin would conjure up what really amounted to an old Cherut imagery which has long since disappeared from Israel’s ideology. Which Likud Party was Feiglin referring to all these years?
* The Likud of an aged Menachem Begin who betrayed Cherut’s principles, signed a sham peace accord with the snake from Egypt, and then gave away the oil rich Sinai.
* The Likud of hypocritical Shamir who disgraced Lechi’s legacy (way back when) when he joined with Peres to ban the Kach Party.
* The Likud of Ariel Sharon who bulldozed away the Jews of Gaza and paved the way for the State of Hamas which terrorizes Israel today.
* The Likud of Bibi who betrayed his mandate time and time again, shook Arafat’s hand, gave away Hebron, and continues to destroy Israel today. The same Likud who under Bibi’s orchestration, arranged backdoor deals with those of his ilk to cripple Feiglin’s power. The same Likud who threw out the only decent man in Likud.
The true Likud is the one we see in power today. A political party that has no semblance of ideology, save for those stated positions that ensure future political gain. A party committed to the suicide of Oslo and the creation of a “Palestinian state.” A party who arms Fatah, and ties its hands
in battle with Hamas and Hezbollah. A party that allows Arabs to terrorize Jews. A party that glosses over Arab terror. A party that comes off as weak in front of the world. A party that freezes construction, harasses good Jews, and allows Arabs to defile Har Habayit while Jews dare not pray. Peel off the mask and the terrifying truth is apparent. This is the real face of the Likud. As an aside, when was the last time anyone in Likud other than Feiglin’s supporters defended him?
Perhaps Feiglin never truly left the Likud. In truth, they threw him out on his face. To his credit he has come around, or so it seems at the moment. The question remains: how will Feiglin’s message resonate in the future, when he stands atop the soapbox of the same kind of small splinter party that he always insisted was detrimental to the system? Only time will tell.
In the past, Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit’s leadership alleged that others were ‘sitting on the sidelines and waving orange flags while they were making changes from within’. (In truth, they weren’t and they aren’t. Their best work could have been accomplished from outside the Knesset.) Today, Manhigut Yehudit is sitting outside the fortified walls of Likud’s castle wondering what happened. I want to emphasize once again, that my intention is not to gloat. These are good Jews, and there is a silver lining if one wishes to see it. Moshe Feiglin has an opportunity, indeed a better opportunity, to bring the best of his cerebral message, his sophisticated platform, and leadership skills to other Jews.
Any Jew who wants to truly affect change in Israel must first understand that the fight must come from outside the established parties, the monolithic “religious” splinter groups who stand for nothing but the tenets of loyalist state worship, or the particularistic self-interest of their cloistered constituents. The solution is Torah leadership from outside the confines of mainstream thought and corrupt politics. The solution is outside the castle. Everything inside the castle is treif.