The closer we get to the decisive day, the greater the pressure and the enticements to withdraw from the contest for the leadership of the Likud. Those who have approached me included many who say what they feel in their hearts and have not been sent by others. To them I address this reply.
On the face of it, it would seem preferable to support the lesser evil than to engage in an unrealistic contest. But in fact both of the great contenders have already lost, and the sole chance of victory lies with my candidacy. The question is not who will receive more votes in the primaries, but who will
win. The winner will be the one whose policy will lead the State of Israel. No intelligent reader will fail to understand that the policy of the Left will continue to lead the State of Israel to its destruction, regardless of whether Ariel Sharon or Binyamin Netanyahu receives more votes. In fact, both of them have already lost.
No intelligent reader has failed to see, time after time, how the Right has come to power yet has adopted the political stance of the Left. No intelligent reader really and honestly expects that one of these twins, who have each already fallen into the Leftist "ground zero", will suddenly turn into something else.
Yet why should we complain about Sharon and Netanyahu? We have ourselves fallen into the very same trap and adopted the Leftist way of thinking. After all, what does the (moderate) Left say to us: ?Now isn't the time... Now is not the time to establish settlements or to fight. Now is not the time for truth.? And what do those who want me to withdraw from the contest say? Do they say that I'm wrong? Certainly not! They say the same thing as the Left: ?Now is not the time.? Those who are enslaved by the present have no chance of one day arriving at the ?proper time.? The time must be brought. This enslavement to tactical considerations, while ignoring the real strategy, has led the national camp from bad to worse. Will we also permit the expected victory in the coming elections to turn into a defeat?
So the Jewish nation in Israel has no chance of winning? It does have a chance! But it obligates us to leave the restricted consciousness in which we have imprisoned ourselves, liberate ourselves from the nebbish syndrome and start building a leadership that is not trapped by the concepts of the Left - in short, Jewish Leadership.
The rapid disintegration in the Israeli political and social scene will inevitably lead to fresh elections within another year or two. The small child to which Manhigut Yehudit gave birth will then stand on its own feet and, at the critical point in time of the encounter between the national disintegration and Manhigut Yehudit's growth, this young lad will assume the leadership of Israel.
I have no idea who this lad will be, but he won't be present at that critical time if we now kill the baby. If I withdraw my candidacy, I will demonstrate that all the articles we have written over the last eight years were just hot air. I will demonstrate that when ideology encounters reality, it is overcome by the reality.
The Jewish people will win. This is a basic fact. Consequently there is no chance that I will withdraw from the contest. Stay tuned and wish us well.
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Moshe Feiglin is the head of the Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) bloc in the Likud party and a candidate for party leadership in the upcoming primaries.
On the face of it, it would seem preferable to support the lesser evil than to engage in an unrealistic contest. But in fact both of the great contenders have already lost, and the sole chance of victory lies with my candidacy. The question is not who will receive more votes in the primaries, but who will
win. The winner will be the one whose policy will lead the State of Israel. No intelligent reader will fail to understand that the policy of the Left will continue to lead the State of Israel to its destruction, regardless of whether Ariel Sharon or Binyamin Netanyahu receives more votes. In fact, both of them have already lost.
No intelligent reader has failed to see, time after time, how the Right has come to power yet has adopted the political stance of the Left. No intelligent reader really and honestly expects that one of these twins, who have each already fallen into the Leftist "ground zero", will suddenly turn into something else.
Yet why should we complain about Sharon and Netanyahu? We have ourselves fallen into the very same trap and adopted the Leftist way of thinking. After all, what does the (moderate) Left say to us: ?Now isn't the time... Now is not the time to establish settlements or to fight. Now is not the time for truth.? And what do those who want me to withdraw from the contest say? Do they say that I'm wrong? Certainly not! They say the same thing as the Left: ?Now is not the time.? Those who are enslaved by the present have no chance of one day arriving at the ?proper time.? The time must be brought. This enslavement to tactical considerations, while ignoring the real strategy, has led the national camp from bad to worse. Will we also permit the expected victory in the coming elections to turn into a defeat?
So the Jewish nation in Israel has no chance of winning? It does have a chance! But it obligates us to leave the restricted consciousness in which we have imprisoned ourselves, liberate ourselves from the nebbish syndrome and start building a leadership that is not trapped by the concepts of the Left - in short, Jewish Leadership.
The rapid disintegration in the Israeli political and social scene will inevitably lead to fresh elections within another year or two. The small child to which Manhigut Yehudit gave birth will then stand on its own feet and, at the critical point in time of the encounter between the national disintegration and Manhigut Yehudit's growth, this young lad will assume the leadership of Israel.
I have no idea who this lad will be, but he won't be present at that critical time if we now kill the baby. If I withdraw my candidacy, I will demonstrate that all the articles we have written over the last eight years were just hot air. I will demonstrate that when ideology encounters reality, it is overcome by the reality.
The Jewish people will win. This is a basic fact. Consequently there is no chance that I will withdraw from the contest. Stay tuned and wish us well.
--------------------------------------------------------
Moshe Feiglin is the head of the Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) bloc in the Likud party and a candidate for party leadership in the upcoming primaries.