Moshe Feiglin, the chairman of the Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) faction in the Likud, has for years been recruiting people to join the Likud party. Membership in the party costs less than ten dollars a year and allows one to vote for the party's chairman, for the composition of the Central Committee and, prior to the Disengagement, in a referendum on the proposal to cede Gaza (which was roundly rejected). All along, it was assumed by many that Feiglin was advocating a two-front bid for power in the Knesset - influencing the Likud from the inside while voting for National Union or another party in general elections. Now Feiglin, who the Yesha Council itself called upon Likud voters to reject on behalf of the more 'moderate' Netanyahu, is calling upon those who plan on voting to vote Likud.
"The question on everyone's mind is this," Israel National Radio's Yishai Fleisher asked Feiglin Monday. "Who do you think that we should vote for and who are you going to vote for – and why?"
Feiglin laughed and almost apologetically, yet firmly, answered: "I am going to vote Likud."
The man who joined the Likud in 1999, when the party had only 19 seats and Ehud Barak was getting ready to offer Yassir Arafat a near-complete withdrawal from Judea, Samaria, Gaza and the Temple Mount, insists that history proves that the Likud will rise again and it is the national camp's responsibility to hold the reigns when it does.
Feiglin said he has no illusions about the desirability of Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu's leadership. "I am not saying to vote for Likud because I know who is better, Bibi [Netanyahu], [Acting Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert or [Labor Party chairman Amir] Peretz. I really don't know and I honestly have no idea who is worse," Feiglin said. "The thing is this: If we go to vote at all - there are some people that decided they are not going to vote at all, but I will talk now to the 95%, maybe 90% that will go vote - you have to ask youself, 'What am I trying to achieve by voting in this election?'
"If what you are looking for is to fulfill an emotional need – then Baruch Marzel is the best to vote for - and personally, I would be very happy to see him in the Knesset. He will make good speeches and a put up a good verbal fight that will make the Arabs angry and tell the leftists who they really are. But seriously speaking, I don't think that is the reason we are going to vote. I think we are going to vote to gain the most political influence we can in order to take care of the Land of Israel, the Jewish-ness of the country and the values we believe in."
Feiglin argued that a little known feature of the Likud Party amplifies the votes of those residing in Judea and Samaria. "Every fifty votes in a community are counted and will give us, in less than a year, another delegate in the Likud Central Committee," he said. "If you live in Tel Aviv, you need 300, but because the Likud has, somewhere deep down, good feelings for the settlers – they let you have a delegate for every 50. You therefore can be one of about 20-30,000 voters that will maybe get another Knesset member in for the National Union or for Marzel – that will get another right-wing Knesset member into a not-so-relevant ball game – or you can be one of fifty voters that will get a Central Committee member into a ballgame that has proved itself to be much more relevant."
"Well, what about the National Union-NRP?" asked Fleisher. "You are talking about Hazit and Herut, but National Union is aiming to be a big party this time around. Why not them?"
"The National Union is worse than Marzel, because they will also give good speeches, but less good than Marzel's. You have to decide whether you want to be influential or whether you want to hear good speeches from the Knesset platform. In the past three years - before the Holy One Blessed Be He paralyzed [Prime Minister Ariel Sharon] and took him out of the picture - who was his worst political enemy? Was it Effie Eitam or was it Benny Elon - or - was it, excuse me for mentioning myself, Moshe Feiglin? Who gave him the most problematic days from a political point of view?
"It was certainly those acting from within his Likud Party. More political pressure and more problematic days and sleepless nights came from what happened within his party – the Likud referendum and the "rebels" – than anything that happened with the NRP and National Union."
Feiglin believes that the Likud will once again rise to be the leading party in the Knesset – if not this election than in the next one. "When Manhigut Yehudit joined the Likud it only had 19 seats and was deep in the opposition. Later on, our Central Committee members proved themselves to be very effective when the Likud got into power again. We cannot know exactly what is going to be, but we know from the past that from the central committee of the leading power of the national camp, we can achieve much, much more than just being another right-wing party in the opposition."
Israel National Radio's Alex Traiman asked Feiglin if such considerations were not moot, due to the fact that neither method succeeded in preventing the expulsion of Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria.
"What we are talking about now is: where do we have the most political influence,” Feiglin said. “It is true, you are right - at the end of the game we did not save Gush Katif through the Likud or through small parties in the Knesset, but the better choice is clear."
"How will all this prove relevant in this election?" asked Traiman. "Let's say Likud is second largest in this election. How will that effect what happens in the country?"
"The National Union is definitely not going to be the second, it might be the fourth," Feiglin posited, "but nobody knows what is going to be with Kadima in one or two or three years from now. The political history of Israel proved that the Likud goes down and then goes back up."
Another staunch defender of the Land of Israel within the Likud is MK Yuli Edelstein, who joined Likud with Natan Sharansky when their Yisrael B'Aliyah Party merged with the Likud following last elections.
Asked by Traiman and Fleisher why the Jewish people, after being lied to and deceived by the head of the Likud Party, should give the Likud another chance, Edelstein responded: "I would say you have three possibilities on March 28th – Netanyahu, Olmert or Peretz. The only situation where I can go to sleep at night is with Netanyahu."
Edelstein argues that Netanyahu is the only one that can restore security for the Jewish state in the face of a Hamas ruled Palestinian Authority and a nuclear Iran. "From 1996 to 1999, when Netanyahu was prime minister, there were only three terror attacks," Edelstein argued. "That is three too many, but far less than the hundreds dead before him and the thousands murdered after he left office."
"But will he really fight 'Hamastan' - as he calls it," asked Fleisher, "or will he give away parts of the Land of Israel to our enemies like he did with Hevron."
"Look," said Edelstein, "we are talking about a Netanyahu with an understanding of where all previous mistakes got us. In 1996, Netanyahu took the driver's seat of the car when it was already rolling down a hill with no brakes. He did the best he could do under the circumstances. The reality today is that we can vote for wonderful parties and end up with Ehud Olmert as Prime Minister - we will be full of self-assuredness and right all the way, but we’ll be a small opposition and Kadima will be running the country."
Aside from security, Edelstein is enthusiastic about Netanyahu's ability to heal Israel's social woes. "Netanyahu saved the Israeli economy and, when in the prime minister's office, will be in the real position to take care of social issues – not just demagogic statements like we hear from Amir Peretz and Ehud Olmert."
Edelstein stressed that while the right-wing hopes to gather an anti-withdrawal coalition of more than half of the 120-seat Knesset, the only way to pull off such a move is to have a large Likud Party. "I think there will be three major parties," Edelstein said. "I don't think we can bring Kadima to its natural size of five to six seats this election, because of Shinui and labor voters who have migrated to it – so our task is to get as close to 30 seats as possible. If we go in this way we have a large chance of being the largest faction in the 17th Knesset."
<I>Click here to listen to Feiglin interview
Click here to listen to Feiglin interview
"The question on everyone's mind is this," Israel National Radio's Yishai Fleisher asked Feiglin Monday. "Who do you think that we should vote for and who are you going to vote for – and why?"
Feiglin laughed and almost apologetically, yet firmly, answered: "I am going to vote Likud."
The man who joined the Likud in 1999, when the party had only 19 seats and Ehud Barak was getting ready to offer Yassir Arafat a near-complete withdrawal from Judea, Samaria, Gaza and the Temple Mount, insists that history proves that the Likud will rise again and it is the national camp's responsibility to hold the reigns when it does.
Feiglin said he has no illusions about the desirability of Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu's leadership. "I am not saying to vote for Likud because I know who is better, Bibi [Netanyahu], [Acting Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert or [Labor Party chairman Amir] Peretz. I really don't know and I honestly have no idea who is worse," Feiglin said. "The thing is this: If we go to vote at all - there are some people that decided they are not going to vote at all, but I will talk now to the 95%, maybe 90% that will go vote - you have to ask youself, 'What am I trying to achieve by voting in this election?'
"If what you are looking for is to fulfill an emotional need – then Baruch Marzel is the best to vote for - and personally, I would be very happy to see him in the Knesset. He will make good speeches and a put up a good verbal fight that will make the Arabs angry and tell the leftists who they really are. But seriously speaking, I don't think that is the reason we are going to vote. I think we are going to vote to gain the most political influence we can in order to take care of the Land of Israel, the Jewish-ness of the country and the values we believe in."
Feiglin argued that a little known feature of the Likud Party amplifies the votes of those residing in Judea and Samaria. "Every fifty votes in a community are counted and will give us, in less than a year, another delegate in the Likud Central Committee," he said. "If you live in Tel Aviv, you need 300, but because the Likud has, somewhere deep down, good feelings for the settlers – they let you have a delegate for every 50. You therefore can be one of about 20-30,000 voters that will maybe get another Knesset member in for the National Union or for Marzel – that will get another right-wing Knesset member into a not-so-relevant ball game – or you can be one of fifty voters that will get a Central Committee member into a ballgame that has proved itself to be much more relevant."
"Well, what about the National Union-NRP?" asked Fleisher. "You are talking about Hazit and Herut, but National Union is aiming to be a big party this time around. Why not them?"
"The National Union is worse than Marzel, because they will also give good speeches, but less good than Marzel's. You have to decide whether you want to be influential or whether you want to hear good speeches from the Knesset platform. In the past three years - before the Holy One Blessed Be He paralyzed [Prime Minister Ariel Sharon] and took him out of the picture - who was his worst political enemy? Was it Effie Eitam or was it Benny Elon - or - was it, excuse me for mentioning myself, Moshe Feiglin? Who gave him the most problematic days from a political point of view?
"It was certainly those acting from within his Likud Party. More political pressure and more problematic days and sleepless nights came from what happened within his party – the Likud referendum and the "rebels" – than anything that happened with the NRP and National Union."
Feiglin believes that the Likud will once again rise to be the leading party in the Knesset – if not this election than in the next one. "When Manhigut Yehudit joined the Likud it only had 19 seats and was deep in the opposition. Later on, our Central Committee members proved themselves to be very effective when the Likud got into power again. We cannot know exactly what is going to be, but we know from the past that from the central committee of the leading power of the national camp, we can achieve much, much more than just being another right-wing party in the opposition."
Israel National Radio's Alex Traiman asked Feiglin if such considerations were not moot, due to the fact that neither method succeeded in preventing the expulsion of Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria.
"What we are talking about now is: where do we have the most political influence,” Feiglin said. “It is true, you are right - at the end of the game we did not save Gush Katif through the Likud or through small parties in the Knesset, but the better choice is clear."
"How will all this prove relevant in this election?" asked Traiman. "Let's say Likud is second largest in this election. How will that effect what happens in the country?"
"The National Union is definitely not going to be the second, it might be the fourth," Feiglin posited, "but nobody knows what is going to be with Kadima in one or two or three years from now. The political history of Israel proved that the Likud goes down and then goes back up."
Another staunch defender of the Land of Israel within the Likud is MK Yuli Edelstein, who joined Likud with Natan Sharansky when their Yisrael B'Aliyah Party merged with the Likud following last elections.
Asked by Traiman and Fleisher why the Jewish people, after being lied to and deceived by the head of the Likud Party, should give the Likud another chance, Edelstein responded: "I would say you have three possibilities on March 28th – Netanyahu, Olmert or Peretz. The only situation where I can go to sleep at night is with Netanyahu."
Edelstein argues that Netanyahu is the only one that can restore security for the Jewish state in the face of a Hamas ruled Palestinian Authority and a nuclear Iran. "From 1996 to 1999, when Netanyahu was prime minister, there were only three terror attacks," Edelstein argued. "That is three too many, but far less than the hundreds dead before him and the thousands murdered after he left office."
"But will he really fight 'Hamastan' - as he calls it," asked Fleisher, "or will he give away parts of the Land of Israel to our enemies like he did with Hevron."
"Look," said Edelstein, "we are talking about a Netanyahu with an understanding of where all previous mistakes got us. In 1996, Netanyahu took the driver's seat of the car when it was already rolling down a hill with no brakes. He did the best he could do under the circumstances. The reality today is that we can vote for wonderful parties and end up with Ehud Olmert as Prime Minister - we will be full of self-assuredness and right all the way, but we’ll be a small opposition and Kadima will be running the country."
Aside from security, Edelstein is enthusiastic about Netanyahu's ability to heal Israel's social woes. "Netanyahu saved the Israeli economy and, when in the prime minister's office, will be in the real position to take care of social issues – not just demagogic statements like we hear from Amir Peretz and Ehud Olmert."
Edelstein stressed that while the right-wing hopes to gather an anti-withdrawal coalition of more than half of the 120-seat Knesset, the only way to pull off such a move is to have a large Likud Party. "I think there will be three major parties," Edelstein said. "I don't think we can bring Kadima to its natural size of five to six seats this election, because of Shinui and labor voters who have migrated to it – so our task is to get as close to 30 seats as possible. If we go in this way we have a large chance of being the largest faction in the 17th Knesset."
<I>Click here to listen to Feiglin interview
Click here to listen to Feiglin interview