Another March Around Kfar Maimon

By Moshe Feiglin

■"Isn't it better to register for (Effie Eitam's new religious Zionist party) Achi?" asked the young voice on the other end of the phone line.
●"You can choose between one of two entry passes," I answered him. "One pass will get you into the royal palace. The other pass will get you into the servant's quarters. Which one will you choose?"
■ "But the Likud doesn't want you!" the voice answered. "They always fight against you!"
● "Of course they do," I answered. "You've probably read a bit about royal palaces. They are filled with intrigue, plots, counter-plots, betrayals and nasty power struggles. Even King David's palace had its share of intrigues and power struggles. So what do you expect of the Likud? It's not pleasant, but these struggles demonstrate that the Likud is Israel's authentic power base. You will always be welcomed with open arms in the servant's quarters. But if you strive to lead, you must fight it out in the royal palace."
■ "And perhaps Achi will develop and become the royal palace?"
● "Aren't you tired of deceiving yourself? Tell me something. Were you in Kfar Maimon?"
■ "Of course I was."
● "So was I, along with another 30,000 people who were told by the leaders of the demonstration that we were about to leave the servant's quarters and lead the nation. In other words, we were told that we were about to leave our comfortable servitude, face reality in Gush Katif and change it. Do you remember?"
■ "I sure do."
● "For three days we sat and sweated in Kfar Maimon, basking in the wonderful brotherhood of the Religious Zionist camp. At the end of the third day, we lined up in an endless row and began to march toward reality. We felt that even if the Red Sea was in front of us, it would part in the face of our unity and determination. Right?"
■ "Absolutely."
● "And then, when the marchers neared the gate, one rabbi and one politician stood there. The rabbi spoke and the politician stood on the roof of a car. They stopped the entire march. Nobody understood why we were stopping. Do you remember?"
■ "Yes I do."
● "And then the unbelievable happened. The politician began to re-direct the march around the fences of Kfar Maimon -- from the inside! We thought that maybe it was just a diversionary tactic, but soon we realized that we were marching around the fences of Kfar Maimon just to let off steam. It was a diversionary tactic -- but we were the ones being diverted from dealing with reality to dealing just with ourselves. Remember?"
■ "Oy vey, I remember."
● "Who is the rabbi? And who is the politician? You don't have to say their names. It's not important. What is important is that they are the very same people who are now taking you and many more people from the Religious Zionist camp for another march around Kfar Maimon. These are the very same people who are talking about 'national leadership' but are sending you directly to the servant's quarters, while the royal palace remains in the hands of Israel's current faithless and failed leadership."