Zionist Pragmatism is not Enough

By Moshe Feiglin

21 Sivan, 5771
June 23, '11

Translated from the article in the Makor Rishon newspaper

It was a short honeymoon: Former Mossad Chief Meir Dagan won the Right's Moskowitz Prize for Zionism. But just two days later, he went on record against attacking Iran and promptly became the enemy of the Right. Maybe he really is the virtuoso that he is purported to be. It takes a lot of talent to collect the prestigious prize from the Right and then just two days later, to win the prizes that the Left knows how to give.

The Moskowitz Foundation erred in the same place that the Right - and particularly Religious Zionism - always trips up. Nationalism without faith in G-d does not last here. Either it deteriorates into something reminiscent of fascism or it swings to the other extreme and sheds all its achievements, Sharon-style. The Right also liked Former Chief of Staff Dan Halutz when he talked about the slight movement he feels in the wing of his plane when he unloads a ton of explosives over an enemy town. If he would have left the army before the Expulsion, maybe he would have won the Moscowitz Prize, as well - and he is only one of many examples.

A leader who has no faith but remains firmly attached to the values of Zionism certainly deserves all of our cooperation. But as worthy and good as he may be, he does not have the ability to complete the modern-day process of the Return to Zion. Ultimately, he will lead Zionism in a stage by stage retreat from all its accomplishments.

Former Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir is an excellent example of this rule. During a time of crisis, Shamir chose to deposit our security in the hands of the nations. The Left praised him while we all ran into our sealed rooms and Saddam Hussein shot his scuds into our cities, unchallenged.

Shamir was motivated by the same pragmatic thinking that Meir Dagan has displayed: Why get involved in an unpredictable war if we can charge the big world with our safety and make do with defensive measures? The result was that we exchanged our status as a regional power for the status of a lame-duck pain in the neck. Instead of appreciating our restraint, the international community pressured us, Shamir lost the elections, Rabin won, signed the Oslo Accords and we all boarded the same train to hell from which we still have not managed to disembark. At every station on our journey, we shed another few cars from the train.

Like Dagan, Shamir did not see the entire picture. He did not understand that the Scud was not the major danger; our lack of response to the threat was.

Shamir's failure was even greater than Golda Meir's and has cost us more casualties than the Yom Kippur War. The victims of Golda's fiasco lost their lives in warfare, while the casualties from Shamir's terrible failure once again died the same way that Jews died before they returned to Israel and made a state for themselves.

Dagan also thinks that the entire problem is the bomb. He refuses to look at the bigger picture. Our lack of response to Achmadinijad's threats has brought about Israel's demonization in a manner far too reminiscent of the pre-Holocaust era. Dagan's remarks gave that process another push. Former Chief of Staff Ashkenazi's irresponsible comments negating any military action to release Gilad Shalit were another kick in the same direction.

Does that mean that our leaders are stupid? Certainly not. They are simply pragmatic Zionists. They all deserve prizes for Zionistic endeavors. But without a faith based and historical perspective, they cannot sense any reality above the physical - and cannot deal with its challenges.