Manhigut Yehudit is doing its utmost to make our dream of Jewish leadership for Israel a reality. That means that we are involved in politics. It may be a lot more pleasant to strictly write articles and bemoan Israel's woes, but that will not produce the change that Israel so vitally needs. The following is a synopsis of some of the political issues that we currently face:

Tzippy's Secret

What is Tzippy Livni's secret? How does a nondescript political nobody meteorically streak into Israel's prime ministerial political race? After all, she has no real experience, she never shouldered serious responsibility, her public record is blank – why Livni?

Tzippy Livni's secret is not what she did. It is what she did not do. As Israel sweats through the death throes of Olmert's government, the public has by and large rejected the Israeli establishment. A politician who has developed through establishment channels is currently at a serious disadvantage. Shaul Mofaz does not (yet) have any scandals working against him. From the public relations standpoint, he is no less blemish-free than Livni. But former Chief of Staff and well-connected Mofaz is perceived by the public as an establishment man while Livni is erroneously perceived as unblemished by the Israeli system.

This process is also taking place inside the Likud and is impacting on the way that Likudniks view Moshe Feiglin. Netanyahu's attempts to exclude Feiglin from the Likud establishment have presented Moshe with short-term difficulties. But in the long term, they have worked in his favor. The Likudniks – the weather vane of Israeli society at large – view the very fact that Feiglin is not an establishment figure as a major point in his favor.

From the Press

Netanyahu Trying to Outflank Feiglin

(IsraelNN.com) Likud chairman and Knesset Member Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu has been meeting with party leaders in an attempt to place high-profile newcomers on the list of Knesset candidates, which might help stunt the strength of Jewish Leadership faction leader Moshe Feiglin. Among those who may win places that would virtually guarantee them seats in the Knesset are former police chief Zev Hefetz, former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon and Uzi Dayan, who was a deputy Chief of Staff.
 
Feiglin has charged that the Likud's newcomers are mostly "left-wingers [who] won't help the Likud." MK Reuven Rivlin also criticized the idea of parachuting people into preferred places on the election list. "Every member of Knesset must be chosen by the people and should not be appointed," he said.

The problem is not simply that Netanyahu seems intnet on returning the Likud to the smoke-filled inner sanctums where Likud politics were once conducted, making it an irrelevant party in the process. The problem is that Netanyahu prefers to parachute leftists, or 'rightists' who will provide the façade of legitimacy for continued expulsions into the top spots on the Likud list. For example:

Uzi Dayan: One of the main promoters of the Oslo Accords and an enthusiastic supporter of the Expulsion from Gush Katif.
Dan Meridor: A member of the leftist Israel Democracy Institute who helped promote the Expulsion.

Asaf Chefetz: The 'leftist of the Likud," in his own words. The former police commissioner who was responsible for the events that led to the murder of Rabbi Uzi Meshulam supporter, Shlomi Asulin. He too, supported the Expulsion.

Yechiel Leiter: The settler who proposes expulsion from 11 settlements including Har Bracha and Yitzhar.

If the reports about Netanyahu's plans are correct, his goal is to turn the Likud into a Kadimah clone. If he actually believes that by doing so he will replace Livni as the media favorite, he is in for a major disappointment. Livni will still be portrayed as the new Israeli idol. Netanyahu will still be portrayed as the villain. And the public, who will no longer see any difference between Kadimah and Likud, will succumb to the media brainwashing and vote for the original Kadimah.

The struggle within the Likud against Netanyahu's plan is very broad-based. "I am not alone in the Likud against Netanyahu," says Moshe. "I hope that he will understand that his battle against me harms both him and the Likud."

For more on this topic, see the In the News section of our website.
 

Av, 5768
August, '08

Translated from the NRG website.

In the past weeks, Israel has been rocked by a rash of murders of children at the hands of their parents, or in one case – grandfather. These murders are horror stories that we hope are the exception to the rule. But they have triggered an important public debate: How much should the state be involved in the relationship between parents and their children? Were the police at fault for not allowing a non-parental complaint to be filed about the disappearance of Rose, one of the murdered children? Should the state now keep track of parents who do not bring their children for medical check ups and vaccinations? Should it investigate the parenting skills of its citizens? What are the limits of authority of the welfare and education systems? Who is responsible for the children? The state? Or the parents?
Everybody seems to agree that the murders were possible because the state didn't discover that there was a problem in time to solve it. "We must learn from our mistakes," the officials lament, "perfect all of our state mechanisms, increase surveillance and make our follow-up more efficient so that the next time, the suspicion of the authorities will be raised in time. The mechanisms will solve the problem, and we will not have to face the horror."

In my opinion, the solution is as the very opposite end of the spectrum. The problem is not the state's lack of responsibility or lack of surveillance of Israel's citizens. Just the opposite; the problem is that the state takes too much responsibility over the lives of its citizens. It has educated/conditioned us to mind our own business and not to take responsibility for what is happening around us. The more that a state is centralized and interferes with its citizens lives, the more that its citizens are estranged from each other and shirk responsibility for their communities – and even for their own children.

A prime example is Israel's Mandatory Education Law. On the surface, it seems like a wonderful law. The state sees to it that every child in Israel will receive the education that he needs. And how has this law interfaced with reality? Israel's children finish 12 years of studies, but place after Iranian children in their achievement tests. They do not know where they came from or where they are going, the words 'Shema Yisrael' are Chinese to them and they are clueless about their basic identity.

What has happened? We have become accustomed to the fact that the education ministry – and not the parents – is responsible for our children's education. That is exactly what the Mandatory Education Law says. The truth, though, is that parents could easily arrange a much better education for their children than what the state offers. With proper preparation, they could pay the best teachers very respectable salaries and still come out with change. Shocked? How can parents shoulder responsibility for their children's education? You have been conditioned to think that education is the state's responsibility.

If people were not conditioned to automatically place all responsibility on the state, the neighbors of the murdered children may have seen the warning signs that could have prevented these horrors. But the socialist state eliminated the traditional community structure in order to empower the central government. In Israel, the entire state is one large community – or in other words – one large, centralized regime in which we all vote directly for political parties.

In 97% of the world's democracies, the regime is based on districts in which the citizen sends his personal representatives to the parliament. This method decentralizes the regime, develops and empowers the community structure and restores responsibility to the citizens.

"We will not allow philanthropists to take control of our distress," Amir Peretz cried when billionaire Arcady Guydamak erected a tent city to house Israel's refugees during the Second Lebanon War. This amazing sentence explains the entire situation in a nutshell. A centralized government, by its very nature, gains from our distress. Distress is as asset that keeps the small citizen dependant on Big Brother. In the short and even medium terms – the state will solve some problems. But an essential solution will never be produced.

We don't want any more heart-breaking horror stories. It is time to restore responsibility to the citizens.
 

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Moshe Feiglin in the USA

Thursday, 11 Elul (Sept. 11) Chicago
Moshe Feiglin will lecture at Congregation Ohr Torah
Address: 3800 Dempster, Skokie, IL
Time: 7:45 p.m.
Info: 516 620 2475

Click here to download and distribute event flyer


Sat. night, 13 Elul (Sept. 13) Queens
Melave Malkah with Moshe Feiglin and Shmuel Sackett
Address: Dougie's of Queens
73-27 Main Street
Kew Gardens Hills, New York
Time: 9:00 p.m.
There is no cost to attend the Melave Malkah, but reservations are required. For reservations, please call:
516 295 3222.

Click here to download and distribute event flyer

Sunday, 14 Elul (Sept. 14) New Rochelle
Meet with Moshe Feiglin
Address: Home of Richard and Vicki Bienenfeld
15 Reyna Lane
New Rochelle, New York
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Info: Jason Gold 914 409 5413

 

Our Aim: To perfect the world in the Kingdom of the Almighty