A Jerusalem Conference panel discussion on the topic of "leadership," taking place on Wednesday, was one of the most anticipated segments of the annual event. Though lamenting the lack of leadership was a major theme, various diagnoses for the current leadership crisis were offered, as well as the character traits a true leader should possess.



Tzvi Tzameret of Yad Yitzchak Ben Tzvi began the session by longing for the days of Menachem Begin and David Ben-Gurion.



Saying he used to be a “blind follower of Ben-Gurion,” Tzameret, who attended the Berl Katznelson (Be’eri) School and was raised in the Workers Movement “wearing a red-laced shirt,” said he later drifted toward Begin’s camp. He read a scathing letter by Ben-Gurion calling Begin a Hitlerist, and noted a deep hatred already present between various segments of Israeli society.





Living according to surveys is like being a collector of weather forecasts.

He insisted, though, that both shared leadership qualities absent from today’s ruling elite. “Each of them made every effort to translate the Jewish-Zionist agenda into day-to-day life,” he said.



“Both were people of integrity – they did not constantly judge themselves based on public opinion polls,” Tzameret said. “Living according to surveys is like being a collector of weather forecasts. They anticipated and influenced the climate on their own.”



Tzameret also noted both Begin and Ben-Gurion lived modest lifestyles. “Ben-Gurion lived in a modest cabin in Sde Boker – he said he made Aliyah to the Negev [using the Hebrew word for Jewish immigration to Israel, literally ‘ascent’ to describe his move to the harsh conditions of the barely-developed Negev desert –ed.]. Begin also lived quite modestly and with a true family life.”

Tzvi Tzameret



Alluding to the prevalent practice in Israel of shifting back and forth from politics to the business world, Tzameret criticized those who “decide what years they are going to work for their bank account and what years for their country.”



MK Prof. Aryeh Eldad (National Union) said the question that must be asked is “whether the lack of leadership is due to a statistical pendulum or not. Are King Davids only born once every thousand years, or are there problems built into our camp’s structure that are suppressing leadership, preventing it from arising?”



Eldad said that on a national level, the pressures of the Israeli and foreign media upon politicians cannot be emphasized enough. “The national camp has always suffered from a deep inferiority complex. We are religious, we are reactionary, etc. etc. – the media are always putting our ideology in the corner. That is one of the reasons leaders of the right end up adopting left-wing agendas and political programs. They desire the love of the media in Israel and abroad in order to survive and in order to be written up by the historians…



“The reason Netanyahu gave Hevron away is due to the need for legitimization. Then the left tells us that right-wing plans are only good from the opposition. ‘Once you are in power, your world view changes,’ they say. I am always suggesting that we institute an eye test for incoming prime ministers– to make sure that what they see from here is what they will see from there [a reference to an Israeli political cliché explaining why right-wing prime ministers have consistently shifted their policies to the left after taking office –ed.].

MK Dr. Aryeh Eldad (National Union)



Right Wing Leadership Failed Us Since Sinai Withdrawal

“The right-wing political and secular leadership has failed us since the withdrawal from Sinai,” Eldad said. “There was no chance [prior to the Disengagement] that the Yesha Council struggle would lead us to victory, but the opposition to the Yesha Council had no leadership that had the abilities and resources to replace it…Amona was a formative event for Israeli society, not just the settler movement. A committee should be formed to see who led it [i.e. that is the kind of leadership we need –ed.]”





Is Netanyahu a leader? He failed the first time but we are left with no choice but to give him a second chance.

“There is simply no leadership today," Eldad said. "Is Netanyahu a leader? He failed the first time, but we are left with no choice but to give him a second chance. We have nobody else. But someone who thinks that putting Netanyahu back in power will change anything for the better will be in for a surprise.”



National Union Built to Not Lead

“In the National Union, there is no leadership because of the built-in system that does not allow primaries. The first places on the party list are decided upon in closed rooms instead of asking the public.



“It is true that central committees are not immune to corruption, but they are the best we have. Far better than a party that does not even aspire to lead Israel. National Union aspires to be an auxiliary party that Netanyahu will hopefully rely upon to form and control the next government. Our starting point is choosing the lesser of all evils and disqualifying ourselves from leadership of the state.



“The lack of leadership is the true crisis facing us. The Iranian threat is much simpler. The right and left can both deal with Iran. Even Amir Peretz and Shimon Peres know what has to be done, maybe later rather than sooner, but they know.



“We need a national leader without a criminal record that is not dependent on the state prosecution, the media or the opinion polls. This is our real existential test.”

Click to hear Israel National Radio's interview with Eldad following his address

Pinchas Wallerstein, senior official of the Yesha Council of Judea, Samaria and Gaza communities and the Mayor of the Binyamin region defended the leadership of the council, which is made up of the mayors of the municipalities in Judea and Samaria.



“The bottom line is that people from Gush Katif and northern Shomron were expelled from their homes, wonderful pieces of our land were given away, and Hamas was brought to power. As a senior member of the Yesha Council, I believe we had an opportunity to prevent all this at least twice - and we failed.”



Click here for Arutz-7's in-depth coverage of Wallerstein's address



Wallerstein, though accepting the Council’s culpability, said blaming him and other prominent members of the Council overlooks the fact that those who were conducting the struggle were actually the right-wing minority within the Council. “We have municipalities that are far more moderate than I am,” he said. “They are represented by well-known figures – [Ariel Mayor] Ron Nachman, [Maaleh Adumim Mayor] Benny Kashriel and representatives of the Jordan Valley and Megillot regions.”

Pinchas Wallerstein



Wallerstein summed up the position of the Yesha Council with regard to the struggle against future withdrawals. “We are supposed to go with the camp of the nation of Israel - not run ahead of the camp. That is what guided my decision process ahead of the Disengagement. Unfortunately, at Kfar Maimon only the religious camp was represented and that is why we could not move forward.”





The world believes that the State of Israel has decided to withdraw to the fence – and that there are just a few idiots – OK, maybe 100,000 idiots - who live on the other side of it and must simply be moved.

The veteran Yesha activist said that he knows he has many constituents who would prefer to have no part in a government that carried out the Disengagement and the violence at Amona, but that the Yesha Council cannot afford to take that position. Just last week, Gush Etzion Mayor Sha'ul Goldstein made a similar argument in defense of his invitation to Disengagement Defense Minister Sha’ul Mofaz to attend a local ceremony.



Both Goldstein and Wallerstein argue that the dangers to the entire settlement enterprise and the state are so grave that any willingness to help on the part of members of the government should be embraced.



“Don’t get me wrong,” Wallerstein said. “This is the worst government for the people of Israel. There is a complete embargo on settlement. And even though Olmert equivocates about there being a withdrawal or not, the world believes that the State of Israel has decided to withdraw to the fence – and that there are just a few idiots – OK, maybe 100,000 idiots - who live on the other side of it and must simply be moved.”



"I Would Refuse, But We Can’t Tell Everyone To"

“We have a problem with the issue of refusing orders,” Wallerstein said. “The rabbis have left the houses of study and joined the leadership today. People ask what role they are supposed to play. When a rabbi says to refuse orders, how is that supposed to be received? The rabbinate should be part of the every day activities through teaching the principles and rulings that dictate them, but not the everyday translation of those principles into practice.”



Wallerstein said that he himself would have refused an order to take part in the expulsion. “I would not have obeyed such an order, but there is a difference between that and telling all of Israel not to. We have a responsibility to all segments of the population.”



Wallerstein concluded that, “The leadership should be left in the hands of the public and not the rabbis.” The statement comes as the Yesha Council seeks to expand its influence through incorporating into its ranks figures like Rabbi Elyakim Levanon of Elon Moreh, a vocal advocate of refusal.



During the Disengagement, rabbis encouraging refusal of orders or active resistance to the expulsion were barred from Gaza while those requiring their students to fulfill orders were allowed to come and go freely.

Click here to hear Israel National Radio's interview with Wallerstein following his address

Yisrael Harel, the moderator of the panel, agreed with Wallerstein, adding that he is not sure the people would have listened if the leadership had called for more fierce resistance or refusal. “And that is why they didn’t,” he posited. “In Kfar Maimon we maybe could have saved Gush Katif, but philosophically, I join hands with Pinchas in saying we can’t do it on our own. We need more segments of the public. Philosophically and spiritually we can’t do it on our own.”

Yisrael Harel



Tzafrir Ronen, founder of the Nahalal Forum of Labor Zionists for the Land of Israel, lamented that the Land of Israel movement is not joined by secular Zionists. “Our disaster is that the battle for the nation is being fought only by the religious,” Ronen said.



Ronen added that it must be recalled that Begin, the first hero of the right wing who rose to power, “deceived us. He gave away the entire Sinai! He deceived us. Rabin betrayed us. Bibi did what he did in Hevron and we all know what Arik [Sharon] did.”

Tzafrir Ronen



The secular Jewish activist berated the Yesha Council for shying away from the call to refuse orders. “We are not simply refusing orders,” he said. “We are refusing to obey illegal orders. How can you ask for ethical leadership if you are willing to compromise on the most basic ethical questions? When they say ‘evacuating settlements’ they means destroying Jewish existence in the Land of Israel.”



An Israeli leader must be willing, according to Ronen, to say, “Whoever wants peace, we will have peace with them, whoever doesn’t – we won’t. But we will not relinquish our land. Syria wants peace? Let them relinquish the land up to Sasa - because that is where we conquered until during the Yom Kippur War.”

Tzafrir Ronen



Ronen promised “Our spirit will reach leadership very soon. And if not, we don’t even have 20 years left here.”



During the question and answer period, Eldad brought up Moshe Feiglin and the Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) movement, which was not represented at the session and is trying to reach leadership through the Likud Party and its central committee.



“Unfortunately, the day Manhigut Yehudit will stand at the head of the Likud Party – it will turn into a boutique party with one or two mandates. Why spend ten years getting to that point? And it is not a matter of Feiglin. It would be the same with me at its head.”

(Photos: Josh Shamsi, Arutz 7 Photojournalist)