Everybody has been talking about the sweeping victory achieved by the right wing in Israel's recent elections. Political analysts across the globe have described this landslide as "historic" and the political end to Israel's left wing. Supporters of the settlements are dancing in the street celebrating the official demise of the Labor party, because without much effort Ariel Sharon can set up the most right wing-religious government ever.
Great news, right?
Wrong. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
Let's stop kidding ourselves. The Likud and people like Ariel Sharon are not "right wing". Sharon's campaign speeches advocated the establishment of a Palestinian state. Every single one of the elected Likud Knesset members is in favor of the Bush "Road Map". Not one single member of National Union, Shas, Agudah or Mafdal (NRP) proposed legislation to limit the overwhelming and abusive power of the Supreme Court. No legislation has been proposed by any member of the "right wing" to solve Israel's biggest problem: the extreme secular and anti-Jewish media that poisons millions of Israelis every single day.
When will we wake up and admit the truth? The leftists run the country, because their ideology is as strong as ever. They believe in their ideology, they live their ideology and they sweep their ideology across the country in dozens of ways.
Do you know why the right wing doesn't do this with their ideology? Simple. It's because they don't even have an ideology. All they tell you is what is wrong with the Left, why the Left is no good, why the Left is ruining the country, why the Left is catastrophic for the State of Israel and why the Left must go.
Who is the right wing in Israel? What do they stand for? What will they do to solve Israel's problems? How will they rejuvenate the horrific economy? How will they get 350,000 unemployed Jews good jobs? How will they improve the educational system, increase tourism, stop the crumbling cultural and moral values of its youth, resurrect the IDF to its once mighty and proud stature, increase Jewish observance and traditions in the population, reawaken the spark of Aliyah and much, much more?
With a sad and heavy heart I must state that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is not interested in answering any of these questions. His goal is completely selfish and his priorities are not what you think they are. Based on that, he will fail miserably in his second term as Prime Minister of the State of Israel.
Here are my predictions as to what will happen:
1) Sharon will set up the most left-wing, secular government in the history of Israel;
2) Sharon and his government will give away more Jewish settlements in the next two years than has been given away in all previous 54 years combined;
3) Sharon and his government will not touch one hair on the head of Yasser Arafat or his new "Prime Minister" (Heaven help us). Regardless of what you may hear or see on CNN, Arafat is the safest man in all of Israel;
4) Sharon and his government will not limit the powers of the Supreme Court, will not make any changes to the media, will not attempt to teach more Jewish education in Israel's schools, will not let any Jews access the halachically-permissible areas of Har Ha'Bayit (the Temple Mount) and will not start any sort of Aliyah program;
5) Even though he will attempt to be the champion of unity in the Land of Israel, the opposite will actually occur and the rifts between religious and secular, and Ashkenazi and Sefardi, will grow wider and wider; and
6) Ariel Sharon's government will not last longer than two years and he will leave office at a lower point than did Menachem Begin. Furthermore, he will leave behind a leadership vacuum and a totally chaotic state of affairs.
What can be done to make sure this doesn't happen? First of all, change the question. It is not what can be done, but what must be done. There is a one-word answer to all of the above. That word is: Leadership. New leadership must shine and come to fruition in Israel. This leadership must change the direction in which Israel is heading. This leadership must put forth an ideology that is based on authentic Jewish sources. This leadership must excite the youth, invigorate the soldiers, electrify the working man and unite the Jewish people together in a common goal.
The focus must be on Jewish identity. With love and understanding we must bridge the gaps between religious and secular. This will not be accomplished through religious coercion, but only through a mutual understanding of what gives the Jewish nation its strength and unique place in the world.
Jewish concepts such as -
* "The poor of your city comes first" must be implemented immediately, with 350,000 Jewish workers receiving employment before Israel runs to hire foreign workers;
* "One who comes to kill you, gets killed first" must be the new battle cry of the IDF, as opposed to the existing slogan of "make sure the world loves us";
* "Next Year in Jerusalem" must become a reality for millions of Jews, as massive Aliyah programs, including subsidies, free housing and tax incentives must be implemented so all Jews can come immediately home;
* Unheard of tax savings for Jewish foreign investments must begin so Jews across the globe will start investing in Israel. The State of Israel should stop shnorring for charity and start creating ways for Jewish businesspeople to invest; and
* "And the study of Torah outweighs them all" - Jewish education must rise to the top of importance. All schools - including secular ones - must teach Jewish subjects with love and understanding. The goal must not be to manufacture religious robots, but to teach the youth its own heritage, traditions and values.
Sounds like a crazy dream to you? Sounds like I've fallen off my rocker, with dreams of a utopian way of life for my fellow Jews? Think again. This dream is already well on its way to becoming a reality.
Seven years ago, Moshe Feiglin, Motti Carpel and I formed a group called Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership). The ideology of this group is to turn Israel from the state of the Jews into the Jewish state. An example of the concepts we discuss on a regular basis are mentioned above. We have identified the fact that there exists a huge gap in leadership for the "right wing" and are attempting to change that forever. The important thing to understand is that we do not talk about changing "people". That has been done several times and has not solved one single problem. Rather, we talk about changing the direction Israel is heading.
Six years ago, Moshe Feiglin wrote a 250 page book about the need for such a leadership, and recently Motti Carpel published a 330 page book explaining the concept of leadership based on Jewish values and emunah (belief). We are attempting to fill the void in leadership by filling the void in ideology for those Jews faithful to the Land. While other groups seem to be stuck in the "stop the withdrawal from Yamit" syndrome, we are building, advancing and challenging the existing establishment.
Two years ago, we decided to take Manhigut Yehudit into the "major leagues". We felt the people were ready for our message and that Jews across the country had to hear our hope and optimism. We decided that we had to enter the political playing field and start actualizing the concepts of leadership that we had been espousing. Based on that, we joined the Likud party. Like it or not (and we really didn't like it too much), the Likud party is Israel's leading party and will continue that way for a long time to come. In the words of Manhigut Yehudit chairman, Moshe Feiglin, "Our goal is to become the ideological factor in the Likud that will challenge the existing leadership with a fresh, ideological spirit. We didn't join the Likud to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, nor to halt the withdrawal from the settlements and not even to improve the security situation. We joined the Likud in order to bring about a revolution. We joined the Likud in order to create authentic Jewish Leadership for the Jewish nation that has returned to Zion, and to lead it towards its real objectives. So far, the response has been predictable. The rank-and-file members are strongly behind us, while the Likud establishment opposes us wherever possible."
With G-d's help, we will succeed and Israel will indeed become the true Jewish state it was destined to be. In the meantime, I urge you not to be fooled by the "right wing government" of Ariel Sharon and his "sweeping victory" in the elections. A lot of work needs to be done to truly defeat the leftists in Israel and we cannot allow ourselves to rest for one second, until a real Jewish government runs the State of Israel.
--------------------------------------------------------
Shmuel Sackett is the International Director of Manhigut Yehudit. He can be reached at holy.jew@verizon.net.
Great news, right?
Wrong. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
Let's stop kidding ourselves. The Likud and people like Ariel Sharon are not "right wing". Sharon's campaign speeches advocated the establishment of a Palestinian state. Every single one of the elected Likud Knesset members is in favor of the Bush "Road Map". Not one single member of National Union, Shas, Agudah or Mafdal (NRP) proposed legislation to limit the overwhelming and abusive power of the Supreme Court. No legislation has been proposed by any member of the "right wing" to solve Israel's biggest problem: the extreme secular and anti-Jewish media that poisons millions of Israelis every single day.
When will we wake up and admit the truth? The leftists run the country, because their ideology is as strong as ever. They believe in their ideology, they live their ideology and they sweep their ideology across the country in dozens of ways.
Do you know why the right wing doesn't do this with their ideology? Simple. It's because they don't even have an ideology. All they tell you is what is wrong with the Left, why the Left is no good, why the Left is ruining the country, why the Left is catastrophic for the State of Israel and why the Left must go.
Who is the right wing in Israel? What do they stand for? What will they do to solve Israel's problems? How will they rejuvenate the horrific economy? How will they get 350,000 unemployed Jews good jobs? How will they improve the educational system, increase tourism, stop the crumbling cultural and moral values of its youth, resurrect the IDF to its once mighty and proud stature, increase Jewish observance and traditions in the population, reawaken the spark of Aliyah and much, much more?
With a sad and heavy heart I must state that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is not interested in answering any of these questions. His goal is completely selfish and his priorities are not what you think they are. Based on that, he will fail miserably in his second term as Prime Minister of the State of Israel.
Here are my predictions as to what will happen:
1) Sharon will set up the most left-wing, secular government in the history of Israel;
2) Sharon and his government will give away more Jewish settlements in the next two years than has been given away in all previous 54 years combined;
3) Sharon and his government will not touch one hair on the head of Yasser Arafat or his new "Prime Minister" (Heaven help us). Regardless of what you may hear or see on CNN, Arafat is the safest man in all of Israel;
4) Sharon and his government will not limit the powers of the Supreme Court, will not make any changes to the media, will not attempt to teach more Jewish education in Israel's schools, will not let any Jews access the halachically-permissible areas of Har Ha'Bayit (the Temple Mount) and will not start any sort of Aliyah program;
5) Even though he will attempt to be the champion of unity in the Land of Israel, the opposite will actually occur and the rifts between religious and secular, and Ashkenazi and Sefardi, will grow wider and wider; and
6) Ariel Sharon's government will not last longer than two years and he will leave office at a lower point than did Menachem Begin. Furthermore, he will leave behind a leadership vacuum and a totally chaotic state of affairs.
What can be done to make sure this doesn't happen? First of all, change the question. It is not what can be done, but what must be done. There is a one-word answer to all of the above. That word is: Leadership. New leadership must shine and come to fruition in Israel. This leadership must change the direction in which Israel is heading. This leadership must put forth an ideology that is based on authentic Jewish sources. This leadership must excite the youth, invigorate the soldiers, electrify the working man and unite the Jewish people together in a common goal.
The focus must be on Jewish identity. With love and understanding we must bridge the gaps between religious and secular. This will not be accomplished through religious coercion, but only through a mutual understanding of what gives the Jewish nation its strength and unique place in the world.
Jewish concepts such as -
* "The poor of your city comes first" must be implemented immediately, with 350,000 Jewish workers receiving employment before Israel runs to hire foreign workers;
* "One who comes to kill you, gets killed first" must be the new battle cry of the IDF, as opposed to the existing slogan of "make sure the world loves us";
* "Next Year in Jerusalem" must become a reality for millions of Jews, as massive Aliyah programs, including subsidies, free housing and tax incentives must be implemented so all Jews can come immediately home;
* Unheard of tax savings for Jewish foreign investments must begin so Jews across the globe will start investing in Israel. The State of Israel should stop shnorring for charity and start creating ways for Jewish businesspeople to invest; and
* "And the study of Torah outweighs them all" - Jewish education must rise to the top of importance. All schools - including secular ones - must teach Jewish subjects with love and understanding. The goal must not be to manufacture religious robots, but to teach the youth its own heritage, traditions and values.
Sounds like a crazy dream to you? Sounds like I've fallen off my rocker, with dreams of a utopian way of life for my fellow Jews? Think again. This dream is already well on its way to becoming a reality.
Seven years ago, Moshe Feiglin, Motti Carpel and I formed a group called Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership). The ideology of this group is to turn Israel from the state of the Jews into the Jewish state. An example of the concepts we discuss on a regular basis are mentioned above. We have identified the fact that there exists a huge gap in leadership for the "right wing" and are attempting to change that forever. The important thing to understand is that we do not talk about changing "people". That has been done several times and has not solved one single problem. Rather, we talk about changing the direction Israel is heading.
Six years ago, Moshe Feiglin wrote a 250 page book about the need for such a leadership, and recently Motti Carpel published a 330 page book explaining the concept of leadership based on Jewish values and emunah (belief). We are attempting to fill the void in leadership by filling the void in ideology for those Jews faithful to the Land. While other groups seem to be stuck in the "stop the withdrawal from Yamit" syndrome, we are building, advancing and challenging the existing establishment.
Two years ago, we decided to take Manhigut Yehudit into the "major leagues". We felt the people were ready for our message and that Jews across the country had to hear our hope and optimism. We decided that we had to enter the political playing field and start actualizing the concepts of leadership that we had been espousing. Based on that, we joined the Likud party. Like it or not (and we really didn't like it too much), the Likud party is Israel's leading party and will continue that way for a long time to come. In the words of Manhigut Yehudit chairman, Moshe Feiglin, "Our goal is to become the ideological factor in the Likud that will challenge the existing leadership with a fresh, ideological spirit. We didn't join the Likud to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, nor to halt the withdrawal from the settlements and not even to improve the security situation. We joined the Likud in order to bring about a revolution. We joined the Likud in order to create authentic Jewish Leadership for the Jewish nation that has returned to Zion, and to lead it towards its real objectives. So far, the response has been predictable. The rank-and-file members are strongly behind us, while the Likud establishment opposes us wherever possible."
With G-d's help, we will succeed and Israel will indeed become the true Jewish state it was destined to be. In the meantime, I urge you not to be fooled by the "right wing government" of Ariel Sharon and his "sweeping victory" in the elections. A lot of work needs to be done to truly defeat the leftists in Israel and we cannot allow ourselves to rest for one second, until a real Jewish government runs the State of Israel.
--------------------------------------------------------
Shmuel Sackett is the International Director of Manhigut Yehudit. He can be reached at holy.jew@verizon.net.