Election season is the time to give the public that sent me to the Knesset a comprehensive report on my work there. Israel’s citizens are the sovereign and they deserve to know what their elected representatives have done with their trust.
My most important achievement in the Knesset to date is the new perception that I have brought to politics and the public discourse: Liberty and identity are not mutually exclusive, as many claim. On the contrary, it is only through our identity that we will merit liberty and live meaningful national and personal lives. Conversely, only true liberty will allow us to genuinely connect to our Jewish identity.
The understanding that liberty is the foundation of Jewish existence has motivated me to advance significant bills in the Knesset and to always vote my conscience (even when that means voting against the coalition). I will always vote in favor of personal liberty and Jewish identity in Israel. The following is my Knesset voting record:
- against the extension of Israel’s State of Emergency, in effect since 1948
- against administrative detention
- against forced feeding of hunger striking prisoners
- against the biometric law
- against extra taxation of married couples in a shared business (an amendment that I proposed and was passed into law)
- in favor of equal divorce
- in favor of a bill to prevent accidents by placing a measure of responsibility on drivers
- in favor of graded transfer of national land to Israel’s citizens
- in favor of a truly open market (not transfer of national assets to controlling interests) and against populist nationalization of the market
- in favor of a fearless war on corruption (I waived my Knesset immunity in face of the Sarel Company’s threats against me at huge personal financial risk)
- against harnessing civil institutions (universities) to the pursuit of draft evaders
- against increasing authority to arrest people without trial
- in favor of the One Chief Rabbi Bill, which I proposed
- in favor of conversion reform
- in favor of civil union as a personal solution (as long as it does not threaten the ethical standing of the traditional family)
- in favor of the Medical Marijuana Bill, which I proposed
- against organ harvesting in China (I initiated a caucus on this matter)
- in favor of a professional volunteer army (I initiated a caucus on this matter)
- against budget-based pensions of over 15,000 NIS per month, funded by the public
- in favor of preserving family values (liberty and identity are contingent on family and community)
- in favor of intense efforts to free our brother, Jonathan Pollard
In addition to my struggle for personal liberty in Israel and preservation of our Jewish identity and family values, I continued my fervent struggle for loyalty to the Land of Israel. I began this struggle years ago with the advent of the Oslo Accords. It was then that I established the Zo Artzeinu movement and, later, Manhigut Yehudit. These two organizations engendered three major breakthroughs in Israeli mentality, settlement and politics:
- Zo Artzeinu’s Mivtza Machpil plan broke through the fences around the settlements and their accompanying siege mentality, eventually giving rise to today’s outpost phenomenon.
- Manhigut Yehudit’s major registration drive for the Likud transformed the belief-based public into an important and sought-after political ally.
- Inside the Likud, the faith-based public began to dream of leading the nation.
- The new reality forced the old NRP to adopt the language and ideas created by Manhigut Yehudit, making the faith-based public politically relevant.
I did not deviate from my principles and, with G-d’s help, did not bow to political pressure. Sometimes I even voted alone against the coalition, preserving my absolute loyalty to our land. For example, I voted:
- against giving the Negev to the Bedouins
- in favor of the bill that makes any negotiations on Jerusalem contingent on the signatures of 80 MKs
- against the bill that evokes moral equivalence between traditional families and homosexual couples
- against the state budget in an attempt to repeal the government decision to free terrorists from Israeli prisons
- in favor of the bill to free Jewish prisoners along with Arab terrorists
My attendance record in the Knesset committees and plenum are among the highest and among other achievements I:
- successfully prevented the planned confiscation of personal firearms (mostly from the residents of Judea and Samaria) by means of mandatory psychological examinations
- reigned in the verbal violence of Arab MKs and, when necessary, fearlessly showed them the exit from the Knesset plenum
- triumphed against the powers-that-be that pretended that the rappelling accident of Netanel Arami, may G-d avenge his blood, was not a terror attack
- consistently charted out the proper course for dealing with Gaza during Defensive Shield Operation
- breached the borders of leftist political correctness by declaring at every opportunity that there is no Palestinian nation and that the Land of Israel is ours.
- placed the true diplomatic answer to the two-state-solution on the Knesset table – one state for one nation in one land – and explained the true demographic and geopolitical facts
- above and beyond everything else – I fearlessly and persistently fought to restore and preserve Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount. Threats to my life from radical Islamic quarters will not intimidate me.
With your support, I hope to continue to promote all these issues and to advance our struggle for liberty, identity, and meaning in Israel in the next Knesset.