A Culture Of Loyalty

Excerpted and translated from Moshe Feiglin's book, "The War of Dreams."

Rosh Chodesh Elul, 5760
August, 2000

The basic disagreement that is tearing the Israeli public into (very unequal) pieces does not really relate to solving Israel's problems with the Arabs. The disagreement is a fundamental cultural rift -- a conflict between the culture of loyalty and the culture of betrayal.

"Are you crazy?!" Yossi Beilin bellowed when asked why Israel betrayed the South Lebanese Army. "If we had left them there, the Hizbollah would have shot at them, they would have shot back, and then the Hizbollah would have shot at Israel!" In effect, Beilin admitted that Israel chose to betray the soldiers of the South Lebanese Army, who had risked their lives for us -- simply because at that moment it did not pay to remain loyal. The interviewer did not continue to question Beilin on that point, because he accepted his response as completely sensible. To a person who has chosen the culture of betrayal, Beilin's excuses make perfect sense.

The culture that rules today in the State of Israel is the culture of betrayal. A person who is loyal to his wife, to his family, to his nation and to his heritage is necessarily going to be loyal to his land and his allies. Opposite him stand those who place themselves at the center of existence. They will obviously choose the path of betrayal -- starting with those closest to them and extending to every type of relationship in which they have a part. We cannot expect a person whose culture is not based on loyalty to suddenly display faithfulness at a certain point, no matter how talented or educated he may be. As soon as conflict arises between short term gain and long term principles -- the principles (and promises) will evaporate.

Before we demand that a candidate of the National Camp nullify the fiascos of the Left, we must demand an answer to the most important question: What is his cultural base? To what values is our candidate truly loyal -- other than himself? We must demand that he inform us not only of his plans to bring our State peace and security, but more importantly, why he thinks we need a Jewish state in the first place. Many Leftists have already openly declared that a Jewish state is unnecessary. Please explain, Mr. Candidate, why they are mistaken. These are not philosophical questions. Reality has already proven that if there is no true answer to these basic questions, the Right's candidate will also necessarily fulfill the policies of the Left.