An encouraging phenomenon: The Israeli Left is rapidly losing its legitimacy as far as citizens of the country are concerned. Irit Linur, a Leftist author, has suddenly discovered that Ha'aretz, the Israeli daily newspaper, is no more than a sophisticated propaganda mouthpiece of the enemy and has canceled her subscription. Yaffa Yarkoni, a veteran singer, whose songs won her acclaim during the 1948 War of Independence, attempted to restore her popularity by spitting into the Zionist well and suddenly found that the rules of the game had changed. She lost the ability to sense which way the wind was blowing and spat into the wind.
It may indeed seem an encouraging phenomenon. All the unsuccessful attempts at propaganda, all the campaigns for Israeli public opinion, have now been replaced by the Arab murderers. The Right need now only rest on the laurels of those who predicted what was about to happen - and pick their political fruit. The public opinion polls indicate a dramatic rise in the strength of the Right, with a corresponding drop in that of the Left. The politicians of the Right certainly have good reason to celebrate: The current situation is the opportunity every politician dreams of - more jobs and more power, without the need for commitments or special efforts. Yet, for the man in the street, the one faithful to his country and his Jewish identity, for the worried Israeli, there is no reason to celebrate. On the contrary, the current situation is more dangerous than ever before. The rise of the Right is a dangerous delusion and it would be better for all of us to remember what happened to Eretz Israel a short time after the knock-out Begin awarded Peres in the 1977 elections.
Irit Linur didn't cancel her subscription after deep thought and Yaffa Yarkoni didn't apologize to IDF soldiers because she suddenly realized that they aren't actually Nazis. Everything Linur wrote about Ha'aretz was also true five years ago and the IDF hasn't changed. The very gifted Linur suffers from the usual Leftist shallowness. Her views are not based on reality, but on the way the wind is blowing, the current political correctness. This broken reed will disintegrate in its first trial. It will perhaps enable a few opportunists to enter the Knesset, but these will be the last to defend Eretz Israel and the Jewish people.
The Israeli Right has no ideology to offer in place of that of the New Middle East - that is, the war to wipe out the Jewish identity of the Israeli nation - waged by the Left. It is benefiting from the current situation, but has never had any pretensions of trying to present an objective differing from that of the Left. The Right has never proposed an answer to the process of collective assimilation referred to by the code name "the peace process" and, based on the ideological foundations of the Right, such an answer cannot be given. As a result, every move made by Sharon (or Netanyahu, or Limor Livnat, or any other conventional Rightist leader) intended to prevent the process of physical annihilation will inevitably end in a return to the process of spiritual annihilation. The latter obligates the destruction of the settlements and linkage of Zionism with a Jewish identity. Israel cannot abandon its Judaism as long as it holds the Temple Mount, Rachel's Tomb, Me'arat HaMachpelah and Joseph's Tomb.
Most Israelis now want "to teach the Arabs a lesson they won't forget", but they are also prepared to uproot most of the settlements. This is not a contradiction. They are not prepared to agree to physical destruction, but they have totally lost their sense of spiritual direction and the Right is not supplying it - not even the religious parties.
"What is the most frightening scenario that you can contemplate?" I was asked by a (Leftist, naturally) journalist.
"The thing that frightens me more than anything is that there won't be a war."
"What?"
"Yes - after all, you think that you will buy your lives back at the price of destroying the settlements. Just like the Jews in Europe during the Second World War, who thought that the problem would stop on the boundary of their town. You think that you will give up the Golan Heights, then Jerusalem, then the right of the Arab refugees to return and in the end the ships of the Sixth Fleet will rescue the fortunate holders of US passports. The thing that frightens me most is that there won't be a war."
It is clear that uprooting the settlements won't avoid the physical destruction of Israel. On the contrary, it will make it more likely. Yet the average Israeli thinks otherwise. He is ready to sacrifice his life in a war for survival in Jenin, but the same soldiers will destroy the settlements and, as we saw in the past, the order for this can only be given by the Right. The Right, lacking a Jewish head, is like a robot controlled by the Left. When the arms are of the Right and the head is of the Left, we have good reason to be anxious.
So what can we do - vote for the Left? Of course not. What we have to do is to put a Jewish head on the shoulders of the Right.
----------------------------------
Moshe Feiglin, founder and head of Manhigut Yehudit, The Jewish Leadership Movement, led the campaign of mass civil disobedience against the Oslo accords. For other articles by Moshe Feiglin, visit manhigut.org .
It may indeed seem an encouraging phenomenon. All the unsuccessful attempts at propaganda, all the campaigns for Israeli public opinion, have now been replaced by the Arab murderers. The Right need now only rest on the laurels of those who predicted what was about to happen - and pick their political fruit. The public opinion polls indicate a dramatic rise in the strength of the Right, with a corresponding drop in that of the Left. The politicians of the Right certainly have good reason to celebrate: The current situation is the opportunity every politician dreams of - more jobs and more power, without the need for commitments or special efforts. Yet, for the man in the street, the one faithful to his country and his Jewish identity, for the worried Israeli, there is no reason to celebrate. On the contrary, the current situation is more dangerous than ever before. The rise of the Right is a dangerous delusion and it would be better for all of us to remember what happened to Eretz Israel a short time after the knock-out Begin awarded Peres in the 1977 elections.
Irit Linur didn't cancel her subscription after deep thought and Yaffa Yarkoni didn't apologize to IDF soldiers because she suddenly realized that they aren't actually Nazis. Everything Linur wrote about Ha'aretz was also true five years ago and the IDF hasn't changed. The very gifted Linur suffers from the usual Leftist shallowness. Her views are not based on reality, but on the way the wind is blowing, the current political correctness. This broken reed will disintegrate in its first trial. It will perhaps enable a few opportunists to enter the Knesset, but these will be the last to defend Eretz Israel and the Jewish people.
The Israeli Right has no ideology to offer in place of that of the New Middle East - that is, the war to wipe out the Jewish identity of the Israeli nation - waged by the Left. It is benefiting from the current situation, but has never had any pretensions of trying to present an objective differing from that of the Left. The Right has never proposed an answer to the process of collective assimilation referred to by the code name "the peace process" and, based on the ideological foundations of the Right, such an answer cannot be given. As a result, every move made by Sharon (or Netanyahu, or Limor Livnat, or any other conventional Rightist leader) intended to prevent the process of physical annihilation will inevitably end in a return to the process of spiritual annihilation. The latter obligates the destruction of the settlements and linkage of Zionism with a Jewish identity. Israel cannot abandon its Judaism as long as it holds the Temple Mount, Rachel's Tomb, Me'arat HaMachpelah and Joseph's Tomb.
Most Israelis now want "to teach the Arabs a lesson they won't forget", but they are also prepared to uproot most of the settlements. This is not a contradiction. They are not prepared to agree to physical destruction, but they have totally lost their sense of spiritual direction and the Right is not supplying it - not even the religious parties.
"What is the most frightening scenario that you can contemplate?" I was asked by a (Leftist, naturally) journalist.
"The thing that frightens me more than anything is that there won't be a war."
"What?"
"Yes - after all, you think that you will buy your lives back at the price of destroying the settlements. Just like the Jews in Europe during the Second World War, who thought that the problem would stop on the boundary of their town. You think that you will give up the Golan Heights, then Jerusalem, then the right of the Arab refugees to return and in the end the ships of the Sixth Fleet will rescue the fortunate holders of US passports. The thing that frightens me most is that there won't be a war."
It is clear that uprooting the settlements won't avoid the physical destruction of Israel. On the contrary, it will make it more likely. Yet the average Israeli thinks otherwise. He is ready to sacrifice his life in a war for survival in Jenin, but the same soldiers will destroy the settlements and, as we saw in the past, the order for this can only be given by the Right. The Right, lacking a Jewish head, is like a robot controlled by the Left. When the arms are of the Right and the head is of the Left, we have good reason to be anxious.
So what can we do - vote for the Left? Of course not. What we have to do is to put a Jewish head on the shoulders of the Right.
----------------------------------
Moshe Feiglin, founder and head of Manhigut Yehudit, The Jewish Leadership Movement, led the campaign of mass civil disobedience against the Oslo accords. For other articles by Moshe Feiglin, visit manhigut.org .