Problem:
How to rally the right-wing, nationalist forces and bring down the Ariel Sharon/Labor/Meretz party government.
Solution:
1. Formation of a united front, consisting of the following elements: Likud, Tsomet, Moledet, National Religious Party, Lubavitch, the Judea, Samaria and Gaza Council, Zo Artzeinu, Gush Emunim, Women for Israel's Tomorrow, the Temple Mount Faithful, Victims of Arab Terror, Inc., plus any other compatible group.
2. The United Front, to call itself the Maccabee Party, and would be run by a council of all constituent bodies. Members would agree not to fight with each other or threaten to withdraw until the Shimon Peres-Ariel Sharon-Meretz, post-Zionist government has fallen and new elections are scheduled. Hopefully, they would also stay together through a new election and victoriously bring the nationalist camp to power.
3. Members of the United Front will call themselves Maccabees. (Please ignore the fact that my Internet magazine is called The Maccabean. I chose that name for the same reason that the United Front should choose it: immediate name recognition associated with a heroic period in Jewish history -- a period of warriors, not appeasers and collaborators.)
4. The Maccabees should begin political activity immediately with a series of marches, not demonstrations. Marches and parades should grow rapidly in size and should display positive, rather than negative, signs and slogans. Examples: 1)The Maccabees Will Save Israel; 2) The Maccabees Mean Victory; 3) The Maccabees Will Drive the Pagans From Jerusalem; 4) Only the Maccabees Can Save Jerusalem; 5) The Maccabees Will Make Jewish History. You can think of many more, this was just a sample.
5. In the parades and marches, the Maccabees will adopt the colors of blue and white, like the Israeli flag. Also, a liberal amount of orange to show that we remember the crime committed against the Jews of Gush Katif. Everyone dresses in white tops and blue bottoms with perhaps an orange band around the upper arm or head.
6. Israeli flags should be used everywhere, including on cars, on buildings and massive displays of flags during parades.
7. A Maccabee symbol in blue on a white arm band will be worn by all Maccabees all the time until a new government is installed. As the arm bands proliferate throughout Israel, everyone, including government officials and foreign correspondents, will be able to gauge the growing strength of the Maccabee Party.
Maccabee Party Platform
(What follows is an illustration of a party platform, not written in stone and subject to discussion. But beware of spending too much energy on platform details. Keep your eyes on the prize: the fall of Sharon/Peres and the saving of Israel from dismemberment.)
1. All of Eretz Yisrael is the rightful possession of the Jewish people.
2. Israeli sovereignty extended to all of Eretz Yisrael.
3. Jerusalem is the united capital of Israel and all foreign embassies must be in Jerusalem. Countries not wishing to have an embassy in Jerusalem are welcome to have consulates in other Israeli cities.
4. Arabs who wish to live in peace with their Jewish neighbors are welcome and should have full civil rights, including self-rule in their villages and towns.
5. Item no. 4 does not imply or give any political sovereignty to the Arab population.
6. Those Arabs who desire to do harm to their Jewish neighbors, or who claim sovereignty over any part of Eretz Yisrael, should be resettled among other Arab countries.
7. Arabs resisting implementation of item no. 6 should be forcibly removed from Eretz Yisrael.
8. Economic and political incentives should be made for the Arabs to emigrate to other countries.
9. Israel's economy should become a fully open, free-enterprise economy. Government regulations, taxes and bureaucracy that have inhibited economic growth for 45 years should be removed immediately. All government enterprises should be privatized as soon as practical.
10. In all matters, Israeli foreign policy should be conducted in a manner that reflects the dignity and sovereignty of the Jewish state. There should be an end to the bowing and scraping reminiscent of ghetto Jews, complete with the acceptance of insults from friend and foe alike.
11. A new constituency-based constitution (similar to the one I proposed as the Rafi Party platform in 1965 and as Prof. Paul Eidelberg is proposing now).
What Will Make This Plan Work?
1. It is positive and exciting, and will restore momentum to the right-wing.
2. The Right is in an almost clinical depression. This plan will cause a dramatic mood shift by focusing on the future and victory.
3. Since I am proposing this plan, and I have no political following in Israel, then each member of the nationalist and religious camps is free to agree to it, as a plan not proposed by a political contender.
4. Marches, parades, flags and symbols make good TV news, good visual images.
5. The use of blue and white, and massive displays of flags will associate the Israeli flag with the Maccabee Party. Every flag displayed will promote the Maccabee Party.
6. Many members of the Likud Party would leave a sinking ship if there was an alternative. If they see the public rallying to the Maccabee Party and they see it in the ascendancy, and if the Maccabee Party offers them a role in the party, then maybe 7-10 Labor Knesset members will join.
7. If point no. 6 occurs, then there will be new elections.
The Maccabee Party must maintain unity and compete in the elections with great professionalism. Then:
Victory for Israel.
"If you will it, it need not be a dream." -- Theodor Herzl (1897)
It is as simple as that. If you put your heart and soul into this campaign, you can win. By force of will, you can create the Maccabee Party and save Israel from disaster.
Will you do it?
[This plan was published as the cover editorial in the September 1995 issue of The Maccabean. Originally written on June 6, 1994; updated November 3, 2005.]
How to rally the right-wing, nationalist forces and bring down the Ariel Sharon/Labor/Meretz party government.
Solution:
1. Formation of a united front, consisting of the following elements: Likud, Tsomet, Moledet, National Religious Party, Lubavitch, the Judea, Samaria and Gaza Council, Zo Artzeinu, Gush Emunim, Women for Israel's Tomorrow, the Temple Mount Faithful, Victims of Arab Terror, Inc., plus any other compatible group.
2. The United Front, to call itself the Maccabee Party, and would be run by a council of all constituent bodies. Members would agree not to fight with each other or threaten to withdraw until the Shimon Peres-Ariel Sharon-Meretz, post-Zionist government has fallen and new elections are scheduled. Hopefully, they would also stay together through a new election and victoriously bring the nationalist camp to power.
3. Members of the United Front will call themselves Maccabees. (Please ignore the fact that my Internet magazine is called The Maccabean. I chose that name for the same reason that the United Front should choose it: immediate name recognition associated with a heroic period in Jewish history -- a period of warriors, not appeasers and collaborators.)
4. The Maccabees should begin political activity immediately with a series of marches, not demonstrations. Marches and parades should grow rapidly in size and should display positive, rather than negative, signs and slogans. Examples: 1)The Maccabees Will Save Israel; 2) The Maccabees Mean Victory; 3) The Maccabees Will Drive the Pagans From Jerusalem; 4) Only the Maccabees Can Save Jerusalem; 5) The Maccabees Will Make Jewish History. You can think of many more, this was just a sample.
5. In the parades and marches, the Maccabees will adopt the colors of blue and white, like the Israeli flag. Also, a liberal amount of orange to show that we remember the crime committed against the Jews of Gush Katif. Everyone dresses in white tops and blue bottoms with perhaps an orange band around the upper arm or head.
6. Israeli flags should be used everywhere, including on cars, on buildings and massive displays of flags during parades.
7. A Maccabee symbol in blue on a white arm band will be worn by all Maccabees all the time until a new government is installed. As the arm bands proliferate throughout Israel, everyone, including government officials and foreign correspondents, will be able to gauge the growing strength of the Maccabee Party.
Maccabee Party Platform
(What follows is an illustration of a party platform, not written in stone and subject to discussion. But beware of spending too much energy on platform details. Keep your eyes on the prize: the fall of Sharon/Peres and the saving of Israel from dismemberment.)
1. All of Eretz Yisrael is the rightful possession of the Jewish people.
2. Israeli sovereignty extended to all of Eretz Yisrael.
3. Jerusalem is the united capital of Israel and all foreign embassies must be in Jerusalem. Countries not wishing to have an embassy in Jerusalem are welcome to have consulates in other Israeli cities.
4. Arabs who wish to live in peace with their Jewish neighbors are welcome and should have full civil rights, including self-rule in their villages and towns.
5. Item no. 4 does not imply or give any political sovereignty to the Arab population.
6. Those Arabs who desire to do harm to their Jewish neighbors, or who claim sovereignty over any part of Eretz Yisrael, should be resettled among other Arab countries.
7. Arabs resisting implementation of item no. 6 should be forcibly removed from Eretz Yisrael.
8. Economic and political incentives should be made for the Arabs to emigrate to other countries.
9. Israel's economy should become a fully open, free-enterprise economy. Government regulations, taxes and bureaucracy that have inhibited economic growth for 45 years should be removed immediately. All government enterprises should be privatized as soon as practical.
10. In all matters, Israeli foreign policy should be conducted in a manner that reflects the dignity and sovereignty of the Jewish state. There should be an end to the bowing and scraping reminiscent of ghetto Jews, complete with the acceptance of insults from friend and foe alike.
11. A new constituency-based constitution (similar to the one I proposed as the Rafi Party platform in 1965 and as Prof. Paul Eidelberg is proposing now).
What Will Make This Plan Work?
1. It is positive and exciting, and will restore momentum to the right-wing.
2. The Right is in an almost clinical depression. This plan will cause a dramatic mood shift by focusing on the future and victory.
3. Since I am proposing this plan, and I have no political following in Israel, then each member of the nationalist and religious camps is free to agree to it, as a plan not proposed by a political contender.
4. Marches, parades, flags and symbols make good TV news, good visual images.
5. The use of blue and white, and massive displays of flags will associate the Israeli flag with the Maccabee Party. Every flag displayed will promote the Maccabee Party.
6. Many members of the Likud Party would leave a sinking ship if there was an alternative. If they see the public rallying to the Maccabee Party and they see it in the ascendancy, and if the Maccabee Party offers them a role in the party, then maybe 7-10 Labor Knesset members will join.
7. If point no. 6 occurs, then there will be new elections.
The Maccabee Party must maintain unity and compete in the elections with great professionalism. Then:
Victory for Israel.
"If you will it, it need not be a dream." -- Theodor Herzl (1897)
It is as simple as that. If you put your heart and soul into this campaign, you can win. By force of will, you can create the Maccabee Party and save Israel from disaster.
Will you do it?
[This plan was published as the cover editorial in the September 1995 issue of The Maccabean. Originally written on June 6, 1994; updated November 3, 2005.]