Efi Eitam held the sole key to fundamentally changing the sad state of affairs in which Israel finds itself, thanks to Ariel Sharon.
But no longer.
If anyone thought that Sharon's plans would be halted because the Mafdal and Ichud Leumi joined the government, he made a serious mistake. Sharon will exploit both of them until the precise point where it will be possible to continue the process of destruction. They will then be faced with a difficult decision: to take part in the destruction or to leave the government and allow Sharon to replace them with the Labor party and the Haredi parties.
In other words, Sharon has constructed a kind of space shuttle. In order to lift off, he needs two booster motors that will accelerate the government vehicle. At a later stage they will become a burden that can be detached and thrown into the ocean, or turned into weightless elements in space, in which the government will be floating. The Mafdal and Ichud Leumi can only accelerate the timetable for Sharon's destructive programs by joining the government. If the destructive processes are delayed, this will only be the result of external factors and not because of the influence of parties of the Right.
So, how could Eitam have changed things?
Eitam should have ignored the justified criticism directed at the Haredi parties, established a unified religious front in coordination with Ichud Leumi, and allowed Sharon to form a secular government with Shinui and the Labor party. There may be a dispute with the Haredim, but Lapid is an enemy.
On the face of it, this appears to be the worst possible scenario - to give all the power to our sworn enemies, but this represented the sole chance to cause a significant change to the tragic path being traveled by the State of Israel. It seems that the Oslo process must be continued to the bitter end, led by the Left and the secular Right, together. The believing public currently lacks the capability of influencing this process, and it would be better if it avoided giving its seal of approval to it.
Sharon's vision of a Palestinian State, Mitzna's Leftist Bolshevism, and Lapid's nouveau-riche anti-Semitism, do not represent Israeli society and are obviously totally unrelated to Jewish values. It would be preferable to isolate them and allow them to disintegrate by themselves, and to permit the Israeli public to draw its own conclusions about them, just as it did regarding the Left. Perhaps if it were possible to save a single hair of a head of a single Jew it would be necessary to think in a different way - but this is not the alternative currently facing those faithful to Eretz Israel. All the activities organized by the Right during the last ten years against the processes of collapse have been ineffective - neither joining the government, remaining in opposition, nor extra-parliamentary activities. Resistance cannot be effective when it fails to present a real alternative. The processes of destruction must therefore continue until they destroy themselves. The leaders of the destruction will not be remembered and the sole question will remain: Who will continue the process of the Return to Zion? Will the believing public construct such an option within its religious political frameworks?
Efi Eitam has now missed this historic opportunity.
It is now ludicrous to hear the heads of the Mafdal talking about the historic progress involved in the alliance with (anti-Semitic) Lapid, thus giving them (and Ichud Leumi) the right to vote against the Palestinian State. How pathetic is Shas' concern about the harm done to the State's Jewish image. Nothing has harmed it more than the Haredi parties. The Haredim invented Tommy Lapid.
Sharon's space shuttle will lift off smoothly thanks to the religious and Rightist parties. It will orbit outside reality and make tragic attempts that will affect the lives of the Jews. When the mistake is discovered the shuttle will attempt to return to the atmosphere, but by then it will be too late. Here, on the ground of reality, the best thing to do is to make plans for the day after.
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Moshe Feiglin is head of the Manhigut Yehudit faction in the Likud party and a former prime ministerial candidate.
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Spend Passover with Arutz Sheva at a resort in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Kfar Pines (near Hadera). Click here for info.
But no longer.
If anyone thought that Sharon's plans would be halted because the Mafdal and Ichud Leumi joined the government, he made a serious mistake. Sharon will exploit both of them until the precise point where it will be possible to continue the process of destruction. They will then be faced with a difficult decision: to take part in the destruction or to leave the government and allow Sharon to replace them with the Labor party and the Haredi parties.
In other words, Sharon has constructed a kind of space shuttle. In order to lift off, he needs two booster motors that will accelerate the government vehicle. At a later stage they will become a burden that can be detached and thrown into the ocean, or turned into weightless elements in space, in which the government will be floating. The Mafdal and Ichud Leumi can only accelerate the timetable for Sharon's destructive programs by joining the government. If the destructive processes are delayed, this will only be the result of external factors and not because of the influence of parties of the Right.
So, how could Eitam have changed things?
Eitam should have ignored the justified criticism directed at the Haredi parties, established a unified religious front in coordination with Ichud Leumi, and allowed Sharon to form a secular government with Shinui and the Labor party. There may be a dispute with the Haredim, but Lapid is an enemy.
On the face of it, this appears to be the worst possible scenario - to give all the power to our sworn enemies, but this represented the sole chance to cause a significant change to the tragic path being traveled by the State of Israel. It seems that the Oslo process must be continued to the bitter end, led by the Left and the secular Right, together. The believing public currently lacks the capability of influencing this process, and it would be better if it avoided giving its seal of approval to it.
Sharon's vision of a Palestinian State, Mitzna's Leftist Bolshevism, and Lapid's nouveau-riche anti-Semitism, do not represent Israeli society and are obviously totally unrelated to Jewish values. It would be preferable to isolate them and allow them to disintegrate by themselves, and to permit the Israeli public to draw its own conclusions about them, just as it did regarding the Left. Perhaps if it were possible to save a single hair of a head of a single Jew it would be necessary to think in a different way - but this is not the alternative currently facing those faithful to Eretz Israel. All the activities organized by the Right during the last ten years against the processes of collapse have been ineffective - neither joining the government, remaining in opposition, nor extra-parliamentary activities. Resistance cannot be effective when it fails to present a real alternative. The processes of destruction must therefore continue until they destroy themselves. The leaders of the destruction will not be remembered and the sole question will remain: Who will continue the process of the Return to Zion? Will the believing public construct such an option within its religious political frameworks?
Efi Eitam has now missed this historic opportunity.
It is now ludicrous to hear the heads of the Mafdal talking about the historic progress involved in the alliance with (anti-Semitic) Lapid, thus giving them (and Ichud Leumi) the right to vote against the Palestinian State. How pathetic is Shas' concern about the harm done to the State's Jewish image. Nothing has harmed it more than the Haredi parties. The Haredim invented Tommy Lapid.
Sharon's space shuttle will lift off smoothly thanks to the religious and Rightist parties. It will orbit outside reality and make tragic attempts that will affect the lives of the Jews. When the mistake is discovered the shuttle will attempt to return to the atmosphere, but by then it will be too late. Here, on the ground of reality, the best thing to do is to make plans for the day after.
--------------------------------------------------------
Moshe Feiglin is head of the Manhigut Yehudit faction in the Likud party and a former prime ministerial candidate.
************
Spend Passover with Arutz Sheva at a resort in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Kfar Pines (near Hadera). Click here for info.