The words "I shall decide and I shall carry it out," spoken at the Likud Convention this week by Ariel Sharon reminded many people of the "I, I" speech made by Yitzhak Rabin when he came to power. It seems that arrogance is a warning sign before the crash. If it were only the crash of a leader's political career, it wouldn't be so bad. Unfortunately, the Oslo Agreement and the Road Map continue to take a heavy toll in blood. This arrogance is, in the final analysis, ruining the citizens of Israel.
I shall decide - without considering the views of those who elected me; I shall determine the path to be taken, regardless of the ideological position of the party that I am supposed to represent; I know what is the right thing to do; I am the one who is going to carry it out; I don't bother to count those bothersome people; I shall speak to the nation over the heads of the monkeys.
Those who hate the Likud are rubbing their hands in pleasure: The prime minister himself is confirming what we've been saying all along - that this is only a criminal mafia.
But those who wishes to rescue Israel from the self-destructive process it is undergoing should take note of the dangerous thing happening here.
Political movements are supposed to be the means of implementing ideology. Socialism, capitalism, nationalism, cosmopolitanism, or whatever - first comes the idea, followed by the creation of political tools intended to advance it. Every movement, regardless of its strength, that abandons its ideology will sooner or later also cease to exist as a political body. The end of the Labor Party was due precisely to this. It no longer has a reason for existence other than to form an alternative to the Likud. But the Likud also started out on the same dangerous road when Sharon decided to ignore the fundamental ideas of the National Camp.
It is incorrect to say that the Likud won the last elections. The truth is that the public actually fled like the plague from the Left and the consequences of the Oslo Agreement. The Likud was simply there at the right time.
However, even the Likud has no real alternative to Oslo. The Road Map is just another name for the same thing. All the solutions and agreements tried since Oslo are based on the same principles and will end in the same failure. Where will the public run away to the next time around?
Yet, now, a thrilling thing is happening inside the Likud. An ideological group has decided to act using the most democratic and legitimate means existing in a free society. They have joined the Likud, acquired political power, and wish to return the Likud to its own ideology, to the objectives and principles expressed so well in its Constitution. In fact the Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) faction represents the last barrier before the disintegration of this party.
However, these people aren't playing according to the usual rules of the game. They don't want to join the centers of power and demand the jobs and benefits due to them. On the contrary, they are careful to preserve their independence, and devote their political power to achieving their ideological aims.
This is considerably frightening for some powerful people in the party. These "Feiglinites" are going too far when they propose an amendment to the Likud Constitution. The amendment states that no Knesset member or minister who votes against a substantive decision of the Likud Convention - or in other words, ignores the fundamental ideology of the party - may be a Likud candidate for the Knesset in the future; rather, he should do so as a member of another party that better matches his views.
The leadership of the party appreciates that this proposal has a very good chance of being approved. Convention members have had enough of being treated with contempt.
Certain leaders ask themselves, ?How can we fight against this dangerous proposal, which will force us to observe the values of the party?? If you can't overcome them from within, make use of the services of the Left.
Suddenly, for no apparent reason, Limor Livnat sets out on a mud-slinging campaign. She talks about criminal elements in the same breath as Manhigut Yehudit. The image she is creating for her own party doesn't worry her, since she knows that the media will devour her offering eagerly. Livnat is not the only one who doesn't mind destroying her own party in her fight against her opponents. When Sharon defies the statutory body of the Likud and confirms the slanders of the Left, he is destroying his own party in order to attack his opponents within it.
According to Ha'aretz, the prime minister's confidantes have said that Manhigut Yehudit's proposal is the same method used by the Nazis to come to power.
Someone up there is apparently very worried, if he descends to such a level. Israeli democracy is apparently not threatened by leadership using expressions such as "I, I," but by those who demand reliability in politics, and a commitment by the elected representatives to the ideology of their party.
This media spin is intended to achieve two aims. One is to frighten Convention members: Perhaps these religious people from Manhigut Yehudit actually have Hitler-type moustaches under their beards.
The second aim is to prepare the ground for external judicial intervention in the process of amending the Likud Constitution. The Likud's legal advisor, and one of Sharon's yes-men, is probably already seeking grounds to claim that the proposed amendment is illegal. Amendment 19c proposed by Manhigut Yehudit is illegal, maintain those close to Sharon. It seems that in Israel in 2004 it is illegal to keep your promises.
One way or another, Manhigut Yehudit has this week taken another important step towards the objective it set itself. The real issue doesn't actually center around the Likud or Feiglin. It is that every leadership that fails to act motivated by a solid Jewish identity will inevitably end up facing a blank wall with no way out, as has happened to Sharon.
The sole chance for Israel not merely to survive, but to be a really free country, is the rise of a totally different kind of leadership - Jewish Leadership.
I shall decide - without considering the views of those who elected me; I shall determine the path to be taken, regardless of the ideological position of the party that I am supposed to represent; I know what is the right thing to do; I am the one who is going to carry it out; I don't bother to count those bothersome people; I shall speak to the nation over the heads of the monkeys.
Those who hate the Likud are rubbing their hands in pleasure: The prime minister himself is confirming what we've been saying all along - that this is only a criminal mafia.
But those who wishes to rescue Israel from the self-destructive process it is undergoing should take note of the dangerous thing happening here.
Political movements are supposed to be the means of implementing ideology. Socialism, capitalism, nationalism, cosmopolitanism, or whatever - first comes the idea, followed by the creation of political tools intended to advance it. Every movement, regardless of its strength, that abandons its ideology will sooner or later also cease to exist as a political body. The end of the Labor Party was due precisely to this. It no longer has a reason for existence other than to form an alternative to the Likud. But the Likud also started out on the same dangerous road when Sharon decided to ignore the fundamental ideas of the National Camp.
It is incorrect to say that the Likud won the last elections. The truth is that the public actually fled like the plague from the Left and the consequences of the Oslo Agreement. The Likud was simply there at the right time.
However, even the Likud has no real alternative to Oslo. The Road Map is just another name for the same thing. All the solutions and agreements tried since Oslo are based on the same principles and will end in the same failure. Where will the public run away to the next time around?
Yet, now, a thrilling thing is happening inside the Likud. An ideological group has decided to act using the most democratic and legitimate means existing in a free society. They have joined the Likud, acquired political power, and wish to return the Likud to its own ideology, to the objectives and principles expressed so well in its Constitution. In fact the Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) faction represents the last barrier before the disintegration of this party.
However, these people aren't playing according to the usual rules of the game. They don't want to join the centers of power and demand the jobs and benefits due to them. On the contrary, they are careful to preserve their independence, and devote their political power to achieving their ideological aims.
This is considerably frightening for some powerful people in the party. These "Feiglinites" are going too far when they propose an amendment to the Likud Constitution. The amendment states that no Knesset member or minister who votes against a substantive decision of the Likud Convention - or in other words, ignores the fundamental ideology of the party - may be a Likud candidate for the Knesset in the future; rather, he should do so as a member of another party that better matches his views.
The leadership of the party appreciates that this proposal has a very good chance of being approved. Convention members have had enough of being treated with contempt.
Certain leaders ask themselves, ?How can we fight against this dangerous proposal, which will force us to observe the values of the party?? If you can't overcome them from within, make use of the services of the Left.
Suddenly, for no apparent reason, Limor Livnat sets out on a mud-slinging campaign. She talks about criminal elements in the same breath as Manhigut Yehudit. The image she is creating for her own party doesn't worry her, since she knows that the media will devour her offering eagerly. Livnat is not the only one who doesn't mind destroying her own party in her fight against her opponents. When Sharon defies the statutory body of the Likud and confirms the slanders of the Left, he is destroying his own party in order to attack his opponents within it.
According to Ha'aretz, the prime minister's confidantes have said that Manhigut Yehudit's proposal is the same method used by the Nazis to come to power.
Someone up there is apparently very worried, if he descends to such a level. Israeli democracy is apparently not threatened by leadership using expressions such as "I, I," but by those who demand reliability in politics, and a commitment by the elected representatives to the ideology of their party.
This media spin is intended to achieve two aims. One is to frighten Convention members: Perhaps these religious people from Manhigut Yehudit actually have Hitler-type moustaches under their beards.
The second aim is to prepare the ground for external judicial intervention in the process of amending the Likud Constitution. The Likud's legal advisor, and one of Sharon's yes-men, is probably already seeking grounds to claim that the proposed amendment is illegal. Amendment 19c proposed by Manhigut Yehudit is illegal, maintain those close to Sharon. It seems that in Israel in 2004 it is illegal to keep your promises.
One way or another, Manhigut Yehudit has this week taken another important step towards the objective it set itself. The real issue doesn't actually center around the Likud or Feiglin. It is that every leadership that fails to act motivated by a solid Jewish identity will inevitably end up facing a blank wall with no way out, as has happened to Sharon.
The sole chance for Israel not merely to survive, but to be a really free country, is the rise of a totally different kind of leadership - Jewish Leadership.