The Dawn of Faith Based Leadership

By Moshe Feiglin

This article is translated from Moshe Feiglin's article in the Makor Rishon newspaper.

The new government that Netanyahu is going to present soon has no new message and is incapable of dealing with the gangrene spreading in our land since the hug with Arafat. What we have been getting since Oslo is what we will continue to get. Bibi's new government will be predicated on commitment to Oslo and all of its offspring agreements, commitment to continue the war against the settlements and the end of the struggle against the 'rule of law gangsters.'

The security nightmare who fled Lebanon for the Four Mothers movement, brought Katyusha rockets to Hadera and transformed a military triumph in Gaza into a strategic loss (this is only a partial list) will continue to serve as Defense Minister. The "extreme rightist," who supports dividing Jerusalem and the establishment of a Palestinian state will be our Foreign Minister. He will likely restore Jericho casino tycoon, Martin Schlaf, to his position of decisive influence over Israel's foreign policy - through the good offices of his friend and confidante, Dov Weissglass, who will be the General Director of the Foreign Ministry. Justice Minister Friedman will be replaced by a 'court' religious Jew - to the glee of the judges in Jerusalem.

As we warned, you may have voted Right. But what you got was the Left of the Left.

As far as Netanyahu is concerned, he has won a major victory. True, he originally preferred Tzippy Livni to Avigdor Lieberman, but everything actually worked out for the best. With Lieberman in Netanyahu's government, nobody can accuse the Likud of veering sharply left. Nobody will demand of the Likud MKs to vote against the government, because even a "radical rightist," the Left's most maligned object of hatred - is in the government.

For his part, Lieberman will do all that it takes to ensure that the politicians in the State's Attorney office will postpone the indictments hanging over his head. Nobody there will want to see how the disengagement from the Golan Heights or from Samaria is delayed because Lieberman has been forced out of the government. The credit line from Schlaf's Austrian bank will no longer concern the people in the State Attorney's office. And Lieberman's proposed demand for loyalty from Israel's Arabs - well, that will be indefinitely tabled. Just like the mayor of the folklore city of Chelm, who would never fix the bridge so that he would have something to promise in the next elections.

Bibi's achievement is remarkable. He knew what he wanted, stuck to his goal, stood up against all the pressure from within his party, was willing to be embarrassed for his illogical aspirations and achieved his objective.

Bibi's intentions were clear from the start. Before the primaries that were held months ago he wooed leftists Dayan, Meridor, and Hefetz into the Likud. He made it clear that he had no intention of solving Israel's crisis situation. Instead, he would prefer to stretch out deep inside the pampering space of the crisis, itself.

Bibi's advisors explained to him that the battle that he fought against yours truly would translate into a loss of votes for the Likud. But he didn't care. On the contrary - he wanted to make sure that the Likud would not get too many mandates, bring too many MKs loyal to the principles of the Likud onto the Knesset roster and prevent him from achieving his goal. True, Bibi was a bit too successful and actually lost to Kadimah. But as expected, the rightists parties that he loves to hate endorsed him for prime ministerial candidate. In typical Bibi fashion, he received the mandate to form the government from the Right and ran straight to his friends on the Left.

Before the elections I traveled from settlement to settlement in Judea and Samaria and (successfully) tried to convince the people there to vote for the Likud. I remember one election rally in Talmon, where I said to the settlers, "I am not calling upon you to vote Likud because I think that Bibi will safeguard Talmon better than Tzippy Livni. I am calling upon you to vote Likud because the way out of Israel's crisis depends upon the faith-based public's entry into the national leadership arena."

When I voted for the Likud and called upon others to do so, I did not deceive myself for a moment. I did not vote Likud to safeguard the land. Under the rule of the elites and Israel's current mentality, I do not see any party that is capable of doing that. If I had not defined a different, much broader goal for myself, I would not have taken the trouble to go to vote, at all.

I voted Likud to strengthen the belief based alternative for leadership of Israel that is developing inside it and in its merit. I am happy to report that many belief based voters have begun to view politics through this long-term prism. They also voted Likud.

The house of cards that Netanyahu has built will not stand up against the strong winds blowing - certainly not against the storms waiting for the Jews in the Land of Israel. If an average government in Israel lasts two years, this hybrid creation will likely collapse in an even shorter time.

The faith-based voters will reap the fruits of their vote after Netanyahu's inevitable fall. It will be the dawn of belief based leadership for Israel.