The Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) faction in the Likud, headed by Moshe Feiglin, calls on Prime Minister Sharon to resign. The group said that Sharon should draw the appropriate conclusions from his four recent political defeats in the Likud party, display public integrity - and resign. Feiglin told Arutz-7 today that some 120 of the 132 members of his faction arrived last night: "We voted for Landau's proposal, of course, and we considered voting for Sharon's as well - but only on condition that if both passed, Sharon would regard Landau's proposal as overriding the other one, but Sharon's camp did not agree to this."
Arutz-7's Haggai Segal asked, "Your group lowered its profile somewhat last night, correct?" Feiglin responded, "Not just somewhat; we very much lowered our profile. I received many requests to be interviewed on television, etc., but I turned them down. The media and some in the Likud were trying to portray this as a fight between Sharon and Manhigut Yehudit, when in fact it was really Sharon vs. his party. It's now clear that Sharon does not have a party, and that he's fighting the whole Likud, including us."
Feiglin noted that his group's contribution to last night's results could be measured numerically: "First of all, Sharon's proposal - which lost by only a few votes - would certainly have passed if not for us, and this would have allowed him to do whatever he wants. In addition, Landau's proposal [which passed by a 231-vote margin, or almost 16%] might also not have passed... There are those, especially in the Sharon camp, who now say that this wasn't such an important victory, and that the Knesset is the body that counts, and not the Central Committee. But whoever saw the tremendous efforts the Sharon camp put in yesterday in order to win - including, unfortunately, some dirty tricks - would realize how important it was for him to win. This vote that shows clearly that he and a few aides around him are alone, running the party and the country by themselves, without a party behind him... Yes, he could go against the vote, as he did with the referendum vote on the disengagement, but he now has very little legitimacy to do so."
Segal: "But Minister Silvan Shalom has been saying that last night's vote has nothing to do with disengagement, and that he himself plans to vote in favor of the disengagement if nothing substantial changes."
Feiglin: "I believe he's representing only himself when he says that, because the Likud voters voted clearly against it in the referendum in May, and the membership voted down a Palestinian state."
Segal: "But even if Sharon resigns now, you have a problem with whoever succeeds him, don't you? There is no one on the horizon who appears to be ready to implement your program."
Feiglin: "This is true, and of course our goal and our entire reason for existence is to field a candidate of 'faith,' who is the only one who can extricate the Nation of Israel from its problems. But it doesn't mean that we are not involved in the here-and-now, and in the meantime, we must at least work to ensure that a leader who acts in such a brazen, lowly and dictatorial manner should resign."
Segal: "It could be that all your successes, such as last night, will cause Likud leaders such as Limor Livnat and Tzippy Livny and Ehud Olmert and even maybe Silvan Shalom to form a new party, and then your party, the Likud, will turn into a regular right-wing party which, as we know, does not usually receive so many votes..."
Feiglin: "History has shown that even people like David Ben-Gurion, and more recently like Roni Milo or others who leave their parties and try to form new ones, do not succeed. What makes a leader is to have a ruling party - and the ruling party is with us. The strength of the Likud is that it represents much of Israeli society; if Livny and even Sharon leave and form their own party, they will receive only 3-4 Knesset seats. The Likud will suffer a small blow, but will quickly recover from it; we must realize this."
Feiglin said that another Likud convention will take place in another few weeks, in which will be debated and possibly approved, the "famous Clause 19c, which states that government ministers who act in opposition to Central Committee decisions may not run for the Knesset in the next national elections. We have much political activity in front of us."
Arutz-7's Haggai Segal asked, "Your group lowered its profile somewhat last night, correct?" Feiglin responded, "Not just somewhat; we very much lowered our profile. I received many requests to be interviewed on television, etc., but I turned them down. The media and some in the Likud were trying to portray this as a fight between Sharon and Manhigut Yehudit, when in fact it was really Sharon vs. his party. It's now clear that Sharon does not have a party, and that he's fighting the whole Likud, including us."
Feiglin noted that his group's contribution to last night's results could be measured numerically: "First of all, Sharon's proposal - which lost by only a few votes - would certainly have passed if not for us, and this would have allowed him to do whatever he wants. In addition, Landau's proposal [which passed by a 231-vote margin, or almost 16%] might also not have passed... There are those, especially in the Sharon camp, who now say that this wasn't such an important victory, and that the Knesset is the body that counts, and not the Central Committee. But whoever saw the tremendous efforts the Sharon camp put in yesterday in order to win - including, unfortunately, some dirty tricks - would realize how important it was for him to win. This vote that shows clearly that he and a few aides around him are alone, running the party and the country by themselves, without a party behind him... Yes, he could go against the vote, as he did with the referendum vote on the disengagement, but he now has very little legitimacy to do so."
Segal: "But Minister Silvan Shalom has been saying that last night's vote has nothing to do with disengagement, and that he himself plans to vote in favor of the disengagement if nothing substantial changes."
Feiglin: "I believe he's representing only himself when he says that, because the Likud voters voted clearly against it in the referendum in May, and the membership voted down a Palestinian state."
Segal: "But even if Sharon resigns now, you have a problem with whoever succeeds him, don't you? There is no one on the horizon who appears to be ready to implement your program."
Feiglin: "This is true, and of course our goal and our entire reason for existence is to field a candidate of 'faith,' who is the only one who can extricate the Nation of Israel from its problems. But it doesn't mean that we are not involved in the here-and-now, and in the meantime, we must at least work to ensure that a leader who acts in such a brazen, lowly and dictatorial manner should resign."
Segal: "It could be that all your successes, such as last night, will cause Likud leaders such as Limor Livnat and Tzippy Livny and Ehud Olmert and even maybe Silvan Shalom to form a new party, and then your party, the Likud, will turn into a regular right-wing party which, as we know, does not usually receive so many votes..."
Feiglin: "History has shown that even people like David Ben-Gurion, and more recently like Roni Milo or others who leave their parties and try to form new ones, do not succeed. What makes a leader is to have a ruling party - and the ruling party is with us. The strength of the Likud is that it represents much of Israeli society; if Livny and even Sharon leave and form their own party, they will receive only 3-4 Knesset seats. The Likud will suffer a small blow, but will quickly recover from it; we must realize this."
Feiglin said that another Likud convention will take place in another few weeks, in which will be debated and possibly approved, the "famous Clause 19c, which states that government ministers who act in opposition to Central Committee decisions may not run for the Knesset in the next national elections. We have much political activity in front of us."