Those present in the conference room of the Central Election Committee were surprised by the entry of a person who suddenly joined in the session. Lawyer Talya Sasson, the head of the Department for Political Persecution of the Right (or the Department for Special Tasks, as it is called by the State Attorney's office) joined the appeal of Naomi Hazan of Meretz, and pressured Judge Heshin into disqualifying my candidacy for the elections to the Knesset.
Many people expressed amazement that the discussion was taking place at all. The offences for which I was convicted, because I organized a public protest against the Oslo agreements, are honorable, not ?disgraceful? ones. One doesn't have to be a legal expert to understand that the law that refers to ?disgraceful? offences applies to robbery and rape - not to a political protest. The amazement increased even more when it transpired that the charge sheet submitted against me because of the Zo Artzenu demonstrations also included the name of Rabbi Benny Elon, who was elected to the Knesset during the court session against us, and the proceedings against whom were halted.
How then did the chairman of the Elections Committee, High Court Judge Mishael Heshin, rule five years later that the offence of rebellion, of which I was convicted, is a disgraceful one, and thus disqualified me from running for office for another two years? Why did the State Attorney see fit to join the demand for this strange disqualification? After all, the entire democratic establishment should have been overjoyed to see such rebellious elements, who acted in contravention of the law in the past, now choosing the correct method for promoting their views, using democratic means. It is particularly surprising, since I wasn't contesting the elections in one of the "extreme" rightist parties, but in the list of the Likud - a central and legitimate ruling party by any standards.
The first people to understand the latent potential of Manhigut Yehudit's moves within the Likud were members of the extreme Left, people such as Mishael Heshin, Talya Sasson, and their accomplices. While the Classic Right has on several occasions expressed its opposition to the activities of Manhigut Yehudit and prefers to continue to live in the golden cages allocated to the religious and the Rightists, the extreme Left understands that those who have sawn through the bars of these cages and transferred the struggle to the real field represent a real danger for it.
The extreme Left understands very well that the progress of Manhigut Yehudit within the ruling party of the national camp represents the potential for a real revolution. This insight caused Judge Heshin to make
his decision, that is a source of great shame for Israeli democracy, in general, and for the legal system, in particular.
The extreme Left has no problem with living with the existing state of affairs. It's convenient for them with Benny Elon in Moledet, Efi Eitam in the Mafdal, and the Yesha Council in Lieberman's party. In this way, the ideological forces are directed towards the cages traditionally assigned to them. It doesn't matter in the least that this political setup has, on every possible occasion, demonstrated that it has no real influence and can only bark at the train going past. All the religious and Right-wing parties halted neither the signing of the Oslo and Wye agreements, nor Barak who wanted to divide Jerusalem. They did not succeed in the past and they are certain to fail in the future.
But Manhigut Yehudit isn't barking at the passing train. It has boarded the train and isn't hiding its desire to reach the locomotive and take over the controls.
"Why not Mafdal?" Efi Eitam asked me two years ago.
"If you are declaring that you want to head the Mafdal, you are actually saying that you want to be Rabbi Yitzhak Levi, but with the addition of your army rank", I replied. "But if you say that you want to head the Likud you are actually declaring that you want to the Prime Minister."
Efi smiled and totally agreed with me. We all know what happened afterwards: Efi progressed on the easy track, until he reached the position of head of the foxes - and that's where he'll stay. We chose to be the tail of the lions. We didn't choose any old lions. This is a group of lions fighting one another with great cunning and cruelty. The hardest thing for these lions is to accept those who maintain their independence and refuse to submit to the patronage of the leaders of the group. Despite all this, we succeeded, after a hard struggle, in entering the group and jumping aboard the last car of the train. We succeeded in introducing the largest and most close-knit group into the Likud Center, and, despite bitter opposition, we succeeded in reaching a possibly realistic place at the end of the Likud list for the Knesset.
Today we are the tail of lions. We are in the last car of the train, but we are jealously guarding our principles and maintaining our constantly growing independent base of support within the party. We are slowly making our way towards the locomotive. The participation in the contest for leadership of the party clearly indicated the target. Those who can't understand this today, will understand the importance of that contest when the issue of the leadership of the Likud is again brought for the electors' decision.
The recruitment of all branches of the Left against Manhigut Yehudit proves once again the correctness of the direction we have adopted. We will continue to recruit fresh ideological forces to the ranks of the national ruling party. We shall meet, persuade, and expand our circles of influence amongst all members of the Likud. There will be new elections in less than two years. We will then be far more experienced and stronger. It is possible that I won't be able to participate personally - all kinds of "Heshins" are probably already dreaming up new ideas to prevent me from competing - but Manhigut Yehudit is not a solo performance. We are a large, well-knit group of people of truth. There are plenty of suitable, believing people, with no legal stains, who will continue to contest the leadership of the national camp.
There is currently no visible leadership, neither from the Right nor from the Left that can propose a way out of the process of collapse being experienced by the State of Israel. No one expects that things will improve after the elections. On the contrary, the situation will go from bad to worse. Somewhere in the last car of the train of the ruling party, a real alternative is being created. We have to be there and slowly establish ourselves as the alternative for leadership of the country. In a short time, Israel will be left without leadership. We must be there so that the Jews will have someone to turn to.
--------------------------------------------------------
Moshe Feiglin is head of the Manhigut Yehudit faction in the Likud party and a former prime ministerial candidate.
Many people expressed amazement that the discussion was taking place at all. The offences for which I was convicted, because I organized a public protest against the Oslo agreements, are honorable, not ?disgraceful? ones. One doesn't have to be a legal expert to understand that the law that refers to ?disgraceful? offences applies to robbery and rape - not to a political protest. The amazement increased even more when it transpired that the charge sheet submitted against me because of the Zo Artzenu demonstrations also included the name of Rabbi Benny Elon, who was elected to the Knesset during the court session against us, and the proceedings against whom were halted.
How then did the chairman of the Elections Committee, High Court Judge Mishael Heshin, rule five years later that the offence of rebellion, of which I was convicted, is a disgraceful one, and thus disqualified me from running for office for another two years? Why did the State Attorney see fit to join the demand for this strange disqualification? After all, the entire democratic establishment should have been overjoyed to see such rebellious elements, who acted in contravention of the law in the past, now choosing the correct method for promoting their views, using democratic means. It is particularly surprising, since I wasn't contesting the elections in one of the "extreme" rightist parties, but in the list of the Likud - a central and legitimate ruling party by any standards.
The first people to understand the latent potential of Manhigut Yehudit's moves within the Likud were members of the extreme Left, people such as Mishael Heshin, Talya Sasson, and their accomplices. While the Classic Right has on several occasions expressed its opposition to the activities of Manhigut Yehudit and prefers to continue to live in the golden cages allocated to the religious and the Rightists, the extreme Left understands that those who have sawn through the bars of these cages and transferred the struggle to the real field represent a real danger for it.
The extreme Left understands very well that the progress of Manhigut Yehudit within the ruling party of the national camp represents the potential for a real revolution. This insight caused Judge Heshin to make
his decision, that is a source of great shame for Israeli democracy, in general, and for the legal system, in particular.
The extreme Left has no problem with living with the existing state of affairs. It's convenient for them with Benny Elon in Moledet, Efi Eitam in the Mafdal, and the Yesha Council in Lieberman's party. In this way, the ideological forces are directed towards the cages traditionally assigned to them. It doesn't matter in the least that this political setup has, on every possible occasion, demonstrated that it has no real influence and can only bark at the train going past. All the religious and Right-wing parties halted neither the signing of the Oslo and Wye agreements, nor Barak who wanted to divide Jerusalem. They did not succeed in the past and they are certain to fail in the future.
But Manhigut Yehudit isn't barking at the passing train. It has boarded the train and isn't hiding its desire to reach the locomotive and take over the controls.
"Why not Mafdal?" Efi Eitam asked me two years ago.
"If you are declaring that you want to head the Mafdal, you are actually saying that you want to be Rabbi Yitzhak Levi, but with the addition of your army rank", I replied. "But if you say that you want to head the Likud you are actually declaring that you want to the Prime Minister."
Efi smiled and totally agreed with me. We all know what happened afterwards: Efi progressed on the easy track, until he reached the position of head of the foxes - and that's where he'll stay. We chose to be the tail of the lions. We didn't choose any old lions. This is a group of lions fighting one another with great cunning and cruelty. The hardest thing for these lions is to accept those who maintain their independence and refuse to submit to the patronage of the leaders of the group. Despite all this, we succeeded, after a hard struggle, in entering the group and jumping aboard the last car of the train. We succeeded in introducing the largest and most close-knit group into the Likud Center, and, despite bitter opposition, we succeeded in reaching a possibly realistic place at the end of the Likud list for the Knesset.
Today we are the tail of lions. We are in the last car of the train, but we are jealously guarding our principles and maintaining our constantly growing independent base of support within the party. We are slowly making our way towards the locomotive. The participation in the contest for leadership of the party clearly indicated the target. Those who can't understand this today, will understand the importance of that contest when the issue of the leadership of the Likud is again brought for the electors' decision.
The recruitment of all branches of the Left against Manhigut Yehudit proves once again the correctness of the direction we have adopted. We will continue to recruit fresh ideological forces to the ranks of the national ruling party. We shall meet, persuade, and expand our circles of influence amongst all members of the Likud. There will be new elections in less than two years. We will then be far more experienced and stronger. It is possible that I won't be able to participate personally - all kinds of "Heshins" are probably already dreaming up new ideas to prevent me from competing - but Manhigut Yehudit is not a solo performance. We are a large, well-knit group of people of truth. There are plenty of suitable, believing people, with no legal stains, who will continue to contest the leadership of the national camp.
There is currently no visible leadership, neither from the Right nor from the Left that can propose a way out of the process of collapse being experienced by the State of Israel. No one expects that things will improve after the elections. On the contrary, the situation will go from bad to worse. Somewhere in the last car of the train of the ruling party, a real alternative is being created. We have to be there and slowly establish ourselves as the alternative for leadership of the country. In a short time, Israel will be left without leadership. We must be there so that the Jews will have someone to turn to.
--------------------------------------------------------
Moshe Feiglin is head of the Manhigut Yehudit faction in the Likud party and a former prime ministerial candidate.