Love Conquers All

By Moshe Feiglin

Translated from Makor Rishon

In less than a month, Defense Minister Ya’alon has managed to implement the underhanded legal trick called the Disruptive Use Order to uproot a 10 year old olive grove in the Shilo Valley, to pursue a group of Jewish minors who were abducted and abused in the Arab village of Kutzrah and to put them on trial instead of the Arabs who abducted them, to arrest pregnant women – Jewish, of course – for the crime of not carrying their ID cards, to destroy the home of the Samaria Settler Committee’s secretary – a home that is no different from any of the other homes in Kidah, except for the fact that its owner waged a campaign against the minister – and to merit the title of the undisputed leader of Israel’s Right.

When I heard that DM Ya’alon had used the Disruptive Use Order despite the recommendation of the Levi Committee to abolish it and despite the fact that the minister had clearly committed himself to abolishing it before the elections, I quickly protested against his actions from the Knesset plenum and activated all the political power at my disposal. After all, the logic behind the Disruptive Use Order is that the Land of Israel belongs to the Arabs and that the Jew’s presence there is – disruptive. For that reason, no proofs are needed for its implementation. No legal procedure is required. It is enough to announce, “You are bothering me – get out of here!”

If there had been any chance at all for an improvement in the minister’s conduct after my protests, it evaporated with the glee of the Right and the surge in Ya’alon’s popularity after his remarks against John Kerry.

‘Love conquers all,’ Zambish waxed poetic on the fresh grave of the destroyer of Yamit and Gush Katif. Well, at least Sharon also built settlements. But Bogi Ya’alon? What exactly has he done? He mumbled something against Kerry in private and the new up-rooter – the long arm of Talyah Sasson and her henchmen – becomes the hero of the settlement movement?

It is no wonder that after a short time, the Defense Minister figured out whom he is dealing with and sent his bulldozers to carry out the targeted attack on the home in Kidah. Those who hurried to cheer Bogi carry some responsibility for the destruction.

Bogi is not the problem. Personally, until the last spate of destruction, I actually respected and liked the man, who radiates integrity and simplicity. When his book was published, I hurried to buy it and read it from cover to cover. From the book I understood that Bogi is a decidedly positive person – who has nothing new to say. It was clear to me that in trying times, Ya’alon would fail, just as all the leaders of the Right until now have fallen. If there is any difference, it is that from the moment that the anticipated deterioration began, it appeared with surprising strength. Bogi, after all, is a straight shooter. If he has decided to ‘get’ the settlers, he does so without creating diversions or making confusing statements.

Those who are afraid to take responsibility and create an essential alternative to lead this country will always find themselves lobbying. They will always cheer the empty words of the newest leader of the Right. Those words may come from a positive place, but they do not have the essential foundation that would actualize them. Ultimately, all those leaders fall into leftist patterns. The settlers have no choice but to cover the crimes that they commit against the settlements with ‘great love’: They simply never bothered to create an alternative.

For the Left, which does not suffer from a lack of leadership mentality, just the opposite is true. Beautiful words do not impress it. When the Right implements its own policies, the Left continues to attack until it brings it down and takes its place. That is the big difference between those who see themselves as an alternative and those who will eternally search for their legitimacy in other circles.

Bogi Ya’alon has to know exactly what is expected of him as the Defense Minister of the ‘National Camp’. He must abolish the Disruptive Use Order once and for all, implement the Levi Report and rebuild all that has been destroyed and uprooted.

But the next time elections roll around, Bogi will release a heartwarming statement, others will talk about his great merits – some of which he showed us this week – and all the sides will play their part: The sun will shine, the Right will cheer Bogi on – and the bulldozers will continue to rumble up toward the settler’s homes.