Final Word on The Manhigut US Dinner

By Fern Sidman

A palpable excitement filled the air as close to 400 people gathered on Monday evening, March 21st at the Terrace on the Park catering hall in New York to attend the 9th annual gala dinner for the Manhigut Yehudit movement. This year's dinner was dedicated to the incredible life and enduring legacy of Herbert Zweibon, ZT"L, the beloved founder and chairman of Americans For A Safe Israel (AFSI) who passed away on Tu B'Shevat, January 19, 2011, as special tributes were paid him. Considered a shining paradigm of pro-Israel activism in America, Mr. Zweibon was remembered in the fondest of terms by the Manhigut Yehudit leadership.

"My first memory of Herb Zweibon was when I volunteered at AFSI for a year", said Rob Muchnick, US Director of Manhigut Yehudit. "We are proud to say that we continue to work with AFSI and will continue our important work together in the future. Herb's fighting spirit was infectious and his entire being resonated with an overwhelming love of Israel and the Jewish people", he added.

Helen Freedman, executive director of AFSI said, "I was very touched and pleased by the fact that Manhigut Yehudit saw fit to honor our beloved Herb Zweibon, z"l at their annual dinner. Since the goals of Jewish leadership and the preservation of a whole Israel are shared by both AFSI and Manhigut Yehudit, it was very appropriate that AFSI's Chairman should be honored at this occasion. The large turnout of AFSI members was a tribute both to Herb and to the ideology of Manhigut Yehudit."

The recent barbaric murders of five members of the Fogel family in the settlement of Itamar on March 11th took center stage amongst dinner attendees and organizers. "Tonight we not only pay tribute to the extraordinary contributions to Jewish activism made by Herbert Zweibon but we recall with profound sorrow the horrific and tragic massacre of the Fogel family", intoned Shmuel Sackett, international director of Manhigut Yehudit.

"There are revolutions underway in Egypt, Libya and the entire Arab world, but what about Israel?", declared Mr. Sackett. Recalling that he and Manhigut Yehudit party chairman Moshe Feiglin led hundreds of thousands of Israelis in protests across the nation, he ruefully observed, "they did not help". Adding that, "Israelis believe they live in a democracy in contrast to the people of Egypt who knew they didn't live in a democracy. Israelis still believe in the democratic process and thus, we are here talking about positive change in the Israeli government. We are building a new leadership that will be committed to a complete and undivided land of Israel living to serve the one and only G-d of Israel," he said.

"The conscience of Oslo is crumbling before our very eyes", declared keynote speaker Moshe Feiglin, founder and co-president of Manhigut Yehudit. Regarded by many as the leading spokesman for the Land of Israel sector, Mr. Feiglin founded the Zo Artzeinu (This is Our Land) grassroots movement in 1994 which stood in vehement opposition to the Oslo Agreements, and later established the Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) organization, which has since joined the Likud with the goal of “influencing from within.” Manhigut Yehudit is credited with giving the Likud, and especially its list of Knesset members, a more nationalist slant than it would have had otherwise.

"After attending the funeral of the Fogel family, I realized that a dramatic shift in Israeli society was taking place", intoned Mr. Feiglin. "When Galei Tzahal (Israeli Army Radio) broadcast the entire funeral live, I took note of the fact that this station is the second largest radio station in the country, and definitely not a right wing one, felt the need to report this event that rocked the entire nation. That means something as does the left wing journalist from the Ma'ariv newspaper who said after the slayings of the Fogels that he is "scared and frustrated that there will be no peace and that he wants to "hide under the dress of Daniella Weiss" (a leading figure in the settlement movement).

Delivering an optimistic prognostication of his future on the Israeli political scene, Mr. Feiglin declared, "The Oslo Accords had in the past engulfed the nation and caused a disconnect from reality, but now we have witnessed the fact that people are coming to terms with the abysmal failure of Oslo. It was then that I understood, that with the help of Hashem, I am going to be the next prime minister of Israel and it's going to be sooner than ever before."

Addressing the recent ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Mr. Feiglin said, "Arab dictators are moving aside. Israelis have now come to the stark realization that they never had peace with Egypt when they saw Egyptian government opposition forces holding pictures of Mubarak with the Star of David scrawled over his face." Mr. Feiglin promised a change in Jewish leadership in Israel by carving out a new direction for Israeli youth. "For these young people, Oslo is the only language that they know. They have no concept of a true Jewish state but we are going to offer them an alternative that includes an authentic Jewish identity. With your help,” Mr. Feiglin told the enthusiastic crowd, “that day will be here a lot sooner than most people think!"