Moshe Feiglin, head of the Jewish Leadership (Manhigut Yehudit) faction within the Likud party, believes that all Jews who wish to be Israeli citizens, whether in America, France or elsewhere, should have the ability to be a citizen. "Israel should be a real Jewish State," Feiglin said, "which means it will be a state of the Jews. The state should be based on nationality and not on location."
Feiglin, just back from a visit to the United States, spoke with Israel National Radio's Eli Stutz and Yishai Fleisher Monday about the right of Jews living outside Israel to be involved in the debate over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan.
"Israel is their state, too," Feiglin said, referring to Diaspora Jewry. "Even if you don't agree, you have to agree that whatever happens in Israel and whatever decision the Israeli government makes immediately affects all the Jews around the world."
Feiglin cited as an example the increase in anti-Semitism since the 1993 handshake between Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn, which launched the Oslo process. Feiglin says that the handshake and subsequent concessions in the Oslo process communicated to the world that the Jews have lost their sense of justice in their struggle with their enemies. "Through the handshake, we said that it is the Arabs, the so-called Palestinians, who have the right to the land and sovereignty over the whole land and not the Jews. This is what immediately affected the lives of Jews in France, Spain, England, Germany, and in the United States - everywhere. We are all in the same struggle over here."
On his speaking tour, Feiglin said he met many people with their hearts in the right place, but also heard reports of American rabbis telling their congregants that although the disengagement plan is objectionable, it must not be opposed by breaking the law or refusing orders. "Manhigut Yehudit is coming out with a booklet in the coming week, containing the entire Halakhic discussion [of the disengagement], written from a perspective of Jewish Law, outlining why it is completely forbidden to obey orders to uproot other Jews from their homes."
Though the booklet was authored by rabbis associated with Manhigut Yehudit, Feiglin says it has been endorsed by Israel's leading rabbis.
Feiglin, who was a leader of the protest struggle against land concessions to the PLO in 1990s, said that what is needed to stop the Gaza withdrawal plan is faith, disobeying orders, and civil disobedience:
"The good Jews in Canada and the US should understand that there are different rules and laws of reality here in Israel, different from any other place in the world. I am a believer and I believe this [withdrawal] will not happen. I am praying to G-d for that and ask every Jew to do the same. This is the most important real thing to do. However, we are human beings and we have the obligation to do everything in our power to bring about change. In reality, the Holy One Blessed Be He works using our forces to do things like that. The main thing right now is to encourage and ensure that people will disobey the expulsion orders. That is why Manhigut is putting so much effort into this. Of course, the path of civil disobedience should be used as well - and will be used, I can tell you - to stop the disengagement plan. And it can certainly work."
Feiglin also related to the recent US State Department declaration that Israel must relinquish its nuclear weapons. He noted that the Americans want Israel to be completely dependent on them. He warned, "If Israel is giving up its own sovereignty on a silver platter, every normal gentile, every normal state, will take it with both hands."
The Manhigut Yehudit leader pointed out a correlation between Israeli strength and receipt of foreign aid, despite lip-service criticizing Israel's policies. "If you make a graph comparing the aid we got from the Americans since [Israel's establishment in] 1948 and compare it to the political map of all the land of Israel liberated from the Arabs since, you will see something very interesting. From 1948 to [the Six Day War in] 1967 we got zero from the Americans - no money and no ammunition. We started getting aid and so-called support from the Americans after 1967 when we captured tons of land, killed thousands of Arabs and suddenly became the bad guy."
Feiglin noted that this trend continued until the Camp David agreements when the late Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin surrendered Sinai to Egypt. "Then suddenly we began to get less and less every year," said Feiglin.
Feiglin explains the trend in that the U.S. will support a strong ally that stands up for its own interests. "When we were the good guys and had almost nothing, we got nothing. When we were the bad guys, everybody may have spoken against us, but when you look at the bottom line, we were the best American ally and they put all their cars in our backyard. Navy boats used to fill the Haifa port. Now they go to Egypt. The Egyptians have the Sinai, they have the oil, they have become the ally that America can depend on because we gave up our sovereignty. It all depends on us, not the Americans."
Feiglin summarized his point saying that the Jews must start depending on themselves. "We should know that we hold all the keys in our hands - the key to our future, the key to our kids' futures - and that none of that depends on Americans, American aid or the Europeans. I am not saying not to play the game. I am not saying to isolate ourselves completely and shun any relationships with the outside world, but this whole way of thinking should be changed. The people of Israel are the sons of G-d. We have G-d on our side just waiting for us to stand for ourselves."
The complete interview with Moshe Feigliln can be heard by clicking here.
Feiglin, just back from a visit to the United States, spoke with Israel National Radio's Eli Stutz and Yishai Fleisher Monday about the right of Jews living outside Israel to be involved in the debate over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan.
"Israel is their state, too," Feiglin said, referring to Diaspora Jewry. "Even if you don't agree, you have to agree that whatever happens in Israel and whatever decision the Israeli government makes immediately affects all the Jews around the world."
Feiglin cited as an example the increase in anti-Semitism since the 1993 handshake between Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn, which launched the Oslo process. Feiglin says that the handshake and subsequent concessions in the Oslo process communicated to the world that the Jews have lost their sense of justice in their struggle with their enemies. "Through the handshake, we said that it is the Arabs, the so-called Palestinians, who have the right to the land and sovereignty over the whole land and not the Jews. This is what immediately affected the lives of Jews in France, Spain, England, Germany, and in the United States - everywhere. We are all in the same struggle over here."
On his speaking tour, Feiglin said he met many people with their hearts in the right place, but also heard reports of American rabbis telling their congregants that although the disengagement plan is objectionable, it must not be opposed by breaking the law or refusing orders. "Manhigut Yehudit is coming out with a booklet in the coming week, containing the entire Halakhic discussion [of the disengagement], written from a perspective of Jewish Law, outlining why it is completely forbidden to obey orders to uproot other Jews from their homes."
Though the booklet was authored by rabbis associated with Manhigut Yehudit, Feiglin says it has been endorsed by Israel's leading rabbis.
Feiglin, who was a leader of the protest struggle against land concessions to the PLO in 1990s, said that what is needed to stop the Gaza withdrawal plan is faith, disobeying orders, and civil disobedience:
"The good Jews in Canada and the US should understand that there are different rules and laws of reality here in Israel, different from any other place in the world. I am a believer and I believe this [withdrawal] will not happen. I am praying to G-d for that and ask every Jew to do the same. This is the most important real thing to do. However, we are human beings and we have the obligation to do everything in our power to bring about change. In reality, the Holy One Blessed Be He works using our forces to do things like that. The main thing right now is to encourage and ensure that people will disobey the expulsion orders. That is why Manhigut is putting so much effort into this. Of course, the path of civil disobedience should be used as well - and will be used, I can tell you - to stop the disengagement plan. And it can certainly work."
Feiglin also related to the recent US State Department declaration that Israel must relinquish its nuclear weapons. He noted that the Americans want Israel to be completely dependent on them. He warned, "If Israel is giving up its own sovereignty on a silver platter, every normal gentile, every normal state, will take it with both hands."
The Manhigut Yehudit leader pointed out a correlation between Israeli strength and receipt of foreign aid, despite lip-service criticizing Israel's policies. "If you make a graph comparing the aid we got from the Americans since [Israel's establishment in] 1948 and compare it to the political map of all the land of Israel liberated from the Arabs since, you will see something very interesting. From 1948 to [the Six Day War in] 1967 we got zero from the Americans - no money and no ammunition. We started getting aid and so-called support from the Americans after 1967 when we captured tons of land, killed thousands of Arabs and suddenly became the bad guy."
Feiglin noted that this trend continued until the Camp David agreements when the late Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin surrendered Sinai to Egypt. "Then suddenly we began to get less and less every year," said Feiglin.
Feiglin explains the trend in that the U.S. will support a strong ally that stands up for its own interests. "When we were the good guys and had almost nothing, we got nothing. When we were the bad guys, everybody may have spoken against us, but when you look at the bottom line, we were the best American ally and they put all their cars in our backyard. Navy boats used to fill the Haifa port. Now they go to Egypt. The Egyptians have the Sinai, they have the oil, they have become the ally that America can depend on because we gave up our sovereignty. It all depends on us, not the Americans."
Feiglin summarized his point saying that the Jews must start depending on themselves. "We should know that we hold all the keys in our hands - the key to our future, the key to our kids' futures - and that none of that depends on Americans, American aid or the Europeans. I am not saying not to play the game. I am not saying to isolate ourselves completely and shun any relationships with the outside world, but this whole way of thinking should be changed. The people of Israel are the sons of G-d. We have G-d on our side just waiting for us to stand for ourselves."
The complete interview with Moshe Feigliln can be heard by clicking here.