Feiglin
FeiglinDavid Cohen/Flash90

Moshe Feiglin, chairman of the Zehut party, addressed the issue of unions with the various right-wing parties in an article published Wednesday evening, ahead of the elections to the 22nd Knesset.

He made clear that Zehut will, in any case, run in the upcoming elections, and is seriously considering the possibility of a joint run in a technical bloc with Ayelet Shaked and/or Naftali Bennett.

According to Feiglin, "The advantage of the 'lite' politics (‘The New Right’) is its true openness to the secular public. It does not relate to it with redemptive paternalism while shirking responsibility for daily life. Unlike the Hardalim [‘Haredi National Religious’], the New Right has shed its sectarianism, addresses the whole nation and, if you are not a clear leftist, does not antagonize you."

Feiglin also explained why Zehut will not unite with the United Right. "Zehut does not see itself as part of Religious Zionism or any other sector. The necessary synergy has already been created in Zehut to a large extent. The concepts ‘secular’ and ‘religious’ - and, to a certain extent, the dichotomous division of right and left, are no longer relevant in the sphere of Zehut.”

"At Zehut conferences, you saw a Tel Aviv woman in a tank top with a Haredi man in his coat, while the question of who here belongs to whom, who here is staying by whom, who is here at whose expense - does not exist at all. From a social standpoint it was possible at Zehut conferences to begin to smell the smell of redemption out of the malignant polarization and the identity that has nothing to lean on but negation of the other."

He noted that "Everyone in Zehut has the same point on his forehead that says - I see you directly, not through the state. I want a state that will protect us, not a state that will separate us, take away from us and allot to us. Union between Zehut and Hardalism neutralizes Zehut’s message and would rightly push away its voters. Hardalism, by nature, wants a lot of state to enforce its dream. It cannot accept that part of the future picture - part of the Torah - specifically lies in the pockets of the secular."

"I have great respect for the Hardalim and their rabbis, but a union between Zehut and them is a union of two opposites, and its damage would be greater than its benefit," Feiglin concluded.