Editor’s note: The following is an edited transcript of a video message Moshe Feiglin recently sent to his followers.
Activists sent us 826 responses to the question: What lessons should we learn from the last elections? We read them all with care. We understand now that most of the public who wanted to vote for us only got to know us in the final two months and truly didn’t know that I was locked up in almost every prison in the country for opposing the government of Rabin and Peres and the Oslo Accords.
They honestly didn’t know that Shai Malka, director general of Zehut, was imprisoned for four months because of his struggle against Sharon’s government and the Disengagement.
We understand now that, come what may, fear of the left is far greater than familiarity with us, and that most of our potential voters need to hear from us that their vote will not lead to the establishment of a leftist government.
We understand that most of our resources need to be devoted to election day itself, because otherwise, they’ll simply steal the election.
We understand that everyone who wants to vote for Zehut needs to bring a Zehut ballot with them from home, in their pocket, and to offer extras to others on line.
This was our first election campaign under almost impossible circumstances, and there are many things we understand now that we didn’t understand before. So, yes, we learned our lessons and I’m saying here and now: Zehut will not join a leftist government. And if that is not clear enough, write this down: Our struggle for a free market and personal liberty will never come at the expense of our national values.
We learned many more lessons and we’ll talk about those as time goes on, but allow me to speak with you now about the lessons that you – the people who wanted Zehut in the Knesset – need to learn as well, you the student who was already sure that Zehut would be “the surprise of the elections” and decided therefore to stay in Beersheva for an exam rather than travel home to Haifa to vote.
You need to learn your lesson and understand that without your vote, Zehut simply won’t be in the Knesset to make sure that when you finish your studies, you’ll actually be able to find work in the profession you’ve trained for and start living here, not just survive.
You, who dreamed of an apartment for your family and intended to vote for Zehut but in the final week were frightened off by all sorts of lies and slanders and said to yourself, “Zehut’s already getting into the Knesset; I’m better off making sure Netanyahu or Bennett gets in”: You have to learn your lesson and understand that without your vote Zehut won’t be in the Finance Ministry to lower housing prices – by eliminating the Lands Authority cartel, by drastically simplifying the land registration process, and by making serious cuts in the extra taxes on construction.
You need to understand that if you don’t go and vote for Zehut, your dream of an apartment for you and your family will only get further away from you. You, the young people who so wanted Zehut’s revolution of liberty but went to the beach on Election Day because all the media were talking about Zehut’s “election surprise” as though it has already happened: You need to take responsibility and vote. Without you, it won’t happen.
You on the right who have seen with your own eyes, in the past month alone, the government you elected allow Hamas to fire 700 rockets at us, to murder four of our citizens, and to send all the towns of the south into bomb shelters without any material response. You who have seen how, in the last month alone, the government you elected give armored vehicles to the terrorist regime Abu Mazen. You who have seen, in the last month alone, yet another home destroyed in Samaria, and another family that had lived there for 20 years tossed in the garbage heap…
If that’s what they do in a single month, imagine what they’re capable of doing over four years. You on the right need to learn your lesson and understand that for a right-wing government to have any significance, it needs Zehut.
And last but not at all least, you, the ill, who aren’t receiving the cannabis you’re entitled to and thought that the Zehut revolution would happen without you and that you were free to vote for other important parties because Zehut was already the “surprise of the elections”: Well, now you know it was such a surprise that we got a surprise in reverse. If you don’t vote for Zehut, there won’t be legalization, and the greedy and cruel cynical ones will continue to abuse you.
In conclusion, you who were shocked when you heard the election results, you who intended to vote for Zehut, but chose not to vote at all or to run off and save other parties: The Creator is giving you all a second chance.