Somewhere in Israel today, you may find a small group, chatting. Perhaps you’ll overhear them at a restaurant. They will be friends who enjoy talking politics. Given the recent de facto UN recognition of ‘Palestine’, they might talk about Judea-Samaria, which some want to take from Israel to give to ‘Palestine’. That could lead to a discussion of IDF soldiers disobeying orders to evict Jews from their homes in Judea-Samaria. That could lead to the words, ‘damn settlers’.
Nobody will flinch. No one will ask, ‘what do you mean’? Everyone will understand—no explanations needed. According to Israel’s media, these friends are authentic Israelis. They understand what it means to be ‘Israeli’. Those 'Jews' or 'settlers' who live in Judea-Samaria, however, are alien; not real Israelis. They hurt Israel. They provoke the government to evict them. They make hard-working seculars ashamed to be called, ‘Israeli.’ They think only about their damn land.
Is this the looking glass through which secular Israelis see their world? Our media might like us to think so. Some in the media believe we are a wonder-machine--a capitalistic and science power-house. They believe we should be the apple of the world’s eye—successful, daring and brilliant. But that’s not what’s happening. Our media elite cry that Israel is rejected, not admired. Every country they care about hates us. The nations they admire most express nothing but contempt for us.
That contempt hurts. Media people want to be loved. They want to be accepted. So they’ve made a plan: get rid of 'Jews" or ‘settlers’. Then, nobody will hate us.
They love publishing Leftist polls that tell us they are correct.
Perhaps you have seen these polls. Perhaps you have heard conversations in restaurants. Perhaps you should wonder: is this the Israel we have created—a materialistic, anti-values culture where people reject both their Heritage and the very land they inhabit?
Ask Moshe Feiglin that question. The answer might surprise you.
You see, Moshe Feiglin doesn't look to media for answers. He talks to people. He travels around the country. He understands that most anti-settler and anti-religious pronouncements might be more Leftist dreaming than reality. For example, the Haredi aren’t as anti-work as you have been told —nor as anti-IDF; and the secular, no matter what the media suggests, may not be so aggressively anti-Heritage or anti-Judea-Samaria.
Ask Moshe Feiglin about that.
Seculars tend towards anti-settler sentiments, but they are not as homogeneous as Israel's Left-leaning media wants you to believe. In fact, secular Jews may be more conflicted over land and Jewish families being evicted from homes in Judea or Samaria than media dares to admit. Remember, the anti-Israel Left not only has an agenda, it also carries a significant voice in our media. The Left dreams of ‘peace’ in a Jewish-free state—and it uses the extraordinary power its media voice provides to try to make that dream a reality. Its behaviour is no different than Abbas telling ‘stories’ so often the world believes him. Think about it: does the Left report Arab incitement against Jews? Does the Left remind us that the Hamas Charter calls to destroy Israel and kill Jews? The Left rejects all things ‘Israel’. It wants to erase Israel’s exceptionalism; and if it cannot do that, it can certainly erase or limit public defense of Israel’s right to exist.
Ask Moshe Feiglin. He could and did write about how Leftist media treats Israel in the Arab-Israel conflict.
If you have heard that seculars hate both the religious and the nationalist, be careful. Don’t believe all that you hear. You might be wrong. Just as Haredi do not promote abuse of women, seculars do not universally hate 'Judea-Samaria'--or religion. Some even support a religious-nationalist like Moshe Feiglin. Why? Because he believes in Jewish values--and that strikes a chord with many seculars: even seculars who profess ‘no religion’ can be sensitive to values, especially when those are presented honestly, openly and intelligently.
Ask Moshe Feiglin about that. Seculars, contrary to media representations, do not always hate G-d—or Israel.
Jewish values and belief in G-d turn out to be important in Israel. Secular Israelis who hear a constant anti-G-d/anti-Israel drumbeat often become weary. They become disenchanted. At some point, some will long for a truth that is not coloured by a Leftist tinge. They want something more. But because Israel is a politically peculiar place, even when seculars discover someone who presents an honesty they can believe and a truth they know is real, they may not vote for him—at first. That’s Israel. But in the end, they come to respect that man; and in Israel, that is where power and influence lie—being respected.
Ask Moshe Feiglin. He knows because, increasingly, this is how his influence is taking root; it is taking root in the secular population. It is why his support grows.
So when you meet a ‘secular Israeli’, be careful. He may not think what you think he thinks.
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