I don't know about you, but whenever a supporter of Feiglin, a "Feiglinite" if you will, posts a comment on one of the many news websites, I get a distinct vision in my head that may or may not be accurate. A skinny, nebbish guy, with glasses sliding down his nose, pecking away at his computer in defense of Feiglin. He probably has a Manhigut Yehudit poster hanging on his wall alongside his Lord Of the Rings poster. An asthma inhalor on his bedside. Feiglin's book on his desktop. Manhigut Yehudit pins and pens and stickers. All of the talking points on the edge of his tongue. Probably has an affinity for Barry Chamish, and some elaborate theory about how "the illumanati" and "the Council of Foreign Relations" killed Rabin. Maybe it's not a fair image. Then again, I've met a few of them.True believers banging on the drum for Feiglin. Usually their comments are limited to one or two lines. All caps, lots of exclamation points!
WHEN WILL PEOPLE WAKE UP AND REALIZE FEIGLIN IS THE ONLY ANSWER! MANHIGUT YEHUDIT NOW!
Or how about this one:
ALL OF THEM ARE LIARS! FEIGLIN IS THE ONLY WAY! HE WARNED US!
FEIGLIN IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE THE COUNTRY! HE FOUGHT OSLO, KATZ AND THE OTHERS ARE LIARS!
Is this what we have to look forward to?
LONG LIVE MOSHE FEIGLIN, KING MOSHIACH....
Ok, that last one is a little unfair. But you get the point. It's a cult. A dangerous cult, because it continuously strengthens the Likud Party which is the most dangerous party in the country. Who ordered the freeze? Who gave away the Sinai and Gaza? What about Hebron? The Likud doesn't deserve anyone's support. Netanyahu benefits and grows stronger from The Moshe Feiglin and Friends Show, whose sole mission is to rehabilitate a party that isn't going to change in their lifetime.
Feiglin's fantasy will never happen. The vast majority of Likudniks think he's an extremist. Hard to imagine, but it's true. Despite his parve personality and "respectable" efforts the stalwarts of Likud brand him a fanatic. He's wasting his time. The back door is padlocked.
Perhaps one day, Moshe Feiglin will wake up. Like when he learned that passive civil disobedience doesn't work in Israel, where the sadistic police, border guards, and even the army, will break your skull open if you try to act like Ghandi. You can't fix something that was always broken.
Shabbat Shalom.
Hey dude -
ReplyDeleteI'm a Feiglinite. I agree with most of what you say. Most of the Feiglinites are dorks. I am, too, though not I don't have posters. Just a few books and a bencher.
And true, most of us don't have the tact to compose something intelligent. We'd rather just quote the man at the top, because he usually has something witty to say, if we're invested enough to actually quote him. (Depends if we can find the page number fast enough.)
Here's my comment though, deem it intelligent or not, that's up to you. You write, "the Likud Party which is the most dangerous party in the country."
Therefore, your conclusion is, abandon it and go about something else. Let me put it this way. I agree. The Likud is the most dangerous party in existence. It is a giant bulldozer that can destroy your home, literally. You have two options.
You can stand in a picket line in the opposition in front of your home while the likud bulldozer, run by Bibi, comes rolling at your house, belching smoke and gaining speed.
Or, you can do the brave thing and jump the bulldozer, scratch claw and stab at the driver until he jumps ship. When he does, you take the thing and point it at Ramallah.
Good luck picketing. I hope someone listens to you. But the Likud bulldozer is still running. I'm stabbing Bibi with an icepick while he keeps driving on. Join Likud and grab an icepick yourself and help me out. Please.
You can keep picketing by voting NU if you want. But for the love of god, sign the damn paper and grab an icepick.
We may be dorks, but we may just be right. If we're wrong, we're down 64 shekels. Too bad.
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the comments. Don't take it personally. I'm just having a little fun with the dork bit. I don't really begrudge a man who votes his Jewish conscience. Nor do I have animosity against Feiglin, except for the fact that I believe that his current path is misguided and that it strengthens a Likud that never changes. I respect his overall efforts. This isn't a perfect science. If he believes this is the way to go, kol hakavod. If he succeeds, I'll eat my yarmulka and give him his due. I am an idealist. I have problems with NU and I didn't vote for them either. I'm committed to getting Rabbi Kahane's philosophy back into the mainstream, what I believe to be the only authentic Jewish approach to the problem. Although, I seriously believe in everything else that I wrote. My point is that the Likud is a myth. I agree that it's a bulldozer, the problem is that this bulldozer is bulldozing Israel into the ground.
I don't know what paper you are referring to, but I will certainly check out the link you posted and see what's going on.
On an unrelated note, just be careful about the icepick remark. I don't want to stab anyone, I just want to save my country. I know you were just saying it tongue in cheek. But you have to be careful. This is Israel after all, and you never know who may be listening.
Thanks again for speaking your mind. Shavuah Tov, and keep in touch.
Just checked out your link. Come on,you know I'm not going to register for the Likud. Haven't you been reading what I've been writing.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, this past election should really expose the Likud. Feiglin won a seat and had it taken it from him, the way a mugger takes a purse from an old woman. Where was the outcry from the grassroots Likudniks? I'll say it again. The Likud is a myth. The first time Likud was in power, headed by Begin who was a hero in his own right, they immediately betrayed every one of Herut's principles.
Good point. To anyone reading, I don't actually want to stab anyone with an icepick. It was a metaphor for voting him out.
ReplyDeleteThe link wasn't directed at you. It was directed at anyone who wants to sign up.
I don't understand though, in a world where you can seriously have your cake and eat it too, i.e. sign the paper and vote in the general elections for whoever you want, why not, for the sake of the the country, do both? I really can't understand it.
Whether Likud the party has 100,000 members or 150,000, it doesn't help them an inch in the general elections. Joining them does not make likud stronger. It makes you stronger by being able to vote. That's it.
Or then again, you can just write blogs.
Nice talking to you.
Rafi
I'm not convinced that it doesn't make them stronger. They can point to their list and maintain that everyone who signed believes in the Likud's principles. They can say that this is who we represent despite the differences that may exist within the party.
ReplyDeleteThe evidence suggests that Feiglin's current plan is not working. They robbed him outright of a seat. An absolute outrage. They disenfranchised everyone who cast a vote for him. Since the Kach party was banned, this may be the grossest example of violating Israel's so-called democratic process.
Likud. Labor. Kadimah. What's the diff at this point. All support the creation of a PLO state. All of them are continuing the madness of Oslo. All of them support territorial amputation to the Arabs. All of them will get us killed.
Feiglin is correct about one thing: without authentic Jewish leadership in the Knesset, Israel is doomed. As the number of observant Jews in Israel continues to grow, and their political strength grows with it (let's not kid ourselves, this is why there is a "freeze" in Yesha), the Leftists will only become more and more irrational.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I was taken in by Feiglin's stance. What he says about Jewish leadership is true. What he says about stripping Arabs of their right to vote and hold office in a Jewish state is true. But in the end, he isn't DOING anything.
Bibi is preparing to give up the Golan, and divide Jerusalem. What is Feiglin doing about this? He's talking about getting more people to join Likud. Is he not paying attention? No one is going to call for new elections. The Likud Central Committee is not going to change this freeze policy, nor is it going to elect a new leader of the party now. By the time there are new elections, the destruction of Israel will be fait accompli.
Only Jewish strength and faith in Hashem will stop this madness. This is what Kahane understood, and why he was banned from the Knesset. The question that Jews must ask themselves is what are they really willing to do to end the Left's strangle hold over Israel, and their irrational, self-defeating willingness to commit national suicide in order to keep their power?
Exactly. The litmus test is to see what's happening. In this sense Feiglin's plan is failing, and we would be foolish to keep empowering the Likud in the name of his promises to change it. He already empowered Sharon to give away Gaza. Now he's empowering Bibi to continue the insanity. It's time to tell Feiglin that his plan is dangerous and it is backfiring.
ReplyDeleteI'd have more respect with him and those in Ichud Leumi if they tried to unite under a Torah platform. Instead we are seeing power struggles that suggest ego plays at least some part in what's going on.
at the end of the day ideology is not ideology if youre not man enough to profess it and express it in a place where it is being fought in a small party is not where the laws are enacted or for that matter where it even sets the goals for the jewish people of eretz yisroel
ReplyDeleteinstead it is only a private club of like minded individuals
According to this logic, our forefather Abraham should have joined the pagans in order to combat idolatry. The battles aren't being fought in the Likud, they are being lost within the Likud. The Likud doesn't even understand the problem.
ReplyDeleteTo those who joined the Likud in the name of saving the country, I have a question. Wasn't the expulsion from Gaza enough of a sin on your conscience? Presumably, you'll try to explain that one away also.
As I've said it's the same talking points about 'being relevant and not standing on the sidelines.' Slogans that are uttered without any intelligent thought process about the reality around you.
Manhigut Yehudit wants respectability, because they are an elitist country club who spits out anyone who doesn't march exactly in step with Feiglin's beat. They need money from respectable affluent Jews who are frightened of extremism. Shilling themselves under the guise of rehab. the Likud has become Manhigut Yehudit's blueprint for saving the country.
I am one of the biggest Feiglin supporters in the world and I was in the Peace Corps, worked for the World Bank and USAID, think Barry Chamish is off the wall, and have only framed pictures and no posters. Thank you for writing this blog post as I am sure it will motivate many of the intelligent, fantastic writers supporting Manhigut Yehudit to sandblast your image of "Feiglinites" off the internet. Moshe Feiglin will succeed to become PM but more important the movement we are building will allow Jewish Leadership to come to power that represents YOU! Get in the fight to win my dear and stop wasting time on kvetching.
ReplyDeleteI'm not kvetching. I just don't agree with you. As they say, that's what makes good ballgames.
ReplyDeleteIf Feiglin succeeds in infiltrating and changing a power base that doesn't want him, I will admit that I was wrong. This is not about "Feiglin bashing" (as I noted I respect many of his past and present efforts), or making fun of his followers (I was just having a little fun.)
But as I've said before, people have to do as they believe. If you believe that this is the way to proceed, you would be remiss in not listening to your intellect. I would be equally remiss in not presenting my disagreement. At the end of the day, I suspect that people like you and I have a lot more in common than we realize.
Thanks for the comments. I appreciate them even though I have to disagree with the current Manhigut Yehudit tactic.