It's not the Right, it's Reality

(Editor's note: this article was written before this week's horrific massacre of the Fogel family at Itamar)

By Moshe Feiglin

10 Adar Bet, 5771 March 16, '11 Translated from Ma'ariv's NRG website If the entire conflict between Right and Left in Israel were to be played out in sterile conditions, the Left would win. It would destroy all the settlements, get rid of the settlers and establish the State of Tel Aviv, the Singapore of the Middle East - just as Shimon Peres envisioned. It is not at all a matter of majority and minority. The Left has always been a minority. But it has also always been equipped with a strong ideology and leadership mentality. Opposing it is the Jewish majority that is motivated more by sentiment than by ideology. It is a majority that is incapable of ruling. The Left is not losing sleep over the Right, and certainly not over the Religious. What opposes the Left and its plans is simply - reality. Since the Camp David Accords and at a more accelerated pace -since the Oslo Accords - the method that Israel uses to realize its dream of normalcy, of being a nation like all other nations, a state of all its citizens, the Singapore of the Middle East - is to make treaties with dictators who will do the work for us. The method is supposed to work as follows: While it is true that the neighboring nations do not want us, do not like us and certainly are not interested in peace with us, it does not really matter. They are ruled by dictators and dictators can be bribed. The idea is to make it worthwhile for the dictator to continue perpetuating the illusion of normal ties with us. These dictators will help us be rid of the "occupied territories" and the settlers. In our merit they will receive international stature and endless payoffs and will hide reality from us. This was how it worked for years. Within the framework of this method, we rehabilitated dictators who were the pariah of the world. Not only did this method work with dictators outside Israel - it worked inside Israel, as well. An entire stratum of "insiders" in Israel has enjoyed easy access to economic, social and political power as a result of those peace accords. One small example of this is the energy that Israel consumes. All of it comes from Egypt, from the oil wells that were in our hands and developed by Israel in the Sinai. Until just a few weeks ago, this energy made its way to Israel in exchange for a hefty price. The "peacemakers" on both sides of the border profited handsomely from this energy deal. Those same Israelis have also made it a habit to oppose the development of any other gas or oil wells in Israel. Now Arab society is revolting. The rule is returning to the people and even if the powers that be in Israel try to convince us that soon the gas from Egypt will flow again into Israel - and even if it does flow for a bit - it makes no difference. The 30 year "window of opportunity" so beloved by the Left has been closed. The bubble has burst and reality is being broadcast from Tahrir Square. What we saw there is the hated Mubarak festooned with the object of the people's hatred: a Star of David. The people in Israel will understand sooner or later that they have no choice. There is no peace, there was no peace and there will be no peace with our neighbors - until we fulfill our destiny. As long as we flee our identity, they do not accept our legitimate right to be here - and justifiably so. It will not help the regime in Israel to shoot at settlers in an attempt to prove that we have no identity. The Left will likely continue with more and more outrageous actions like this, just like a wounded animal. It will not help us to propose more and more interim peace plans, it will not help us to give the Arabs the Jordan Valley and I do not know what new brilliant idea Bibi will try to sell Washington next month to buy just a bit more time. None of this will help. The ground under our feet is crumbling. The playing field upon which we have played the normalcy game has simply disappeared and we are left here with ourselves and our identity. The Camp David and Oslo mentality upon which the political game in Israel has been played out is finished. Presumably, many radical leftists will leave Israel. They have no sentimental issues and when they realize that their vision of Zionist assimilation is finished because reality - not the Right - will not allow it, they will simply get up and leave. Suddenly, we, the Jewish majority, will be left here by ourselves, without the Oslo vision. We will have to create a new vision, a new horizon that will give meaning to our lives here. This vision will no longer be a vision of disconnection and escape from our Jewish identity. It will be a vision that highlights our Jewish identity and true liberty. The leader who will be able to forge this vision into tangible reality will lead Israel.