Faith in G-d Key to Leadership in Israel

"And we were in our eyes as grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes." (From this week's Torah portion, Shlach Lecha, Numbers 13:33)

If you do not know that G-d is running the world, the only way to evaluate reality is through human eyes. That is called being "realistic" and "pragmatic." The spies in this week's Torah portion were not lying. The information that they reported was completely accurate. The only problem was that they observed reality without taking faith in G-d into account.

When Israel's leader views reality without the key factor of faith in G-d, it makes him and his country look awfully small in the eyes of the other nations. And then, the president of the United States, who grovels before every small dictator and terrorist, sees him and his country as nothing more than - grasshoppers.

And then he shows you the soles of his shoes.

President Obama as photographed this week during his phone conversation with Netanyahu. It is no coincidence that the White House chose to publicize this photograph.

"And all the nations of the world will see that the Name of G-d is upon you and they will fear you." (Deuteronomy 28:10)

When we will have leadership that fears G-d, we will restore our lost honor and power of deterrence. In the meantime, the honor is afforded to other leaders who call out in the names of their gods.

Shabbat Shalom,
Moshe Feiglin

3:0 for the Islamic Front

By Moshe Feiglin

4 Sivan, 5769
May 27, '09

Translated from the Hebrew article in Makor Rishon.

"We may have to take down illegal outposts, as the US demands, in order to focus attention on the Iranian threat."

Demolished outpost Maoz Esther, Wednesday

These words, spoken by Binyamin Netanyahu at a stormy Likud Knesset meeting last week, testify to the fact that an anti-Semitic outpost has been planted in the heart of Israeli mentality. Its name? "Illegal outposts."

No serious person claims that the persecution of the Jewish settlement movement is in any way connected to the necessity to abide by the law. The Jewish buildings slated for demolition are surrounded by countless Arab structures even less " "legal" than the outposts - but nobody pays them any attention. In other words, the term "illegal outposts" is an Orwellian euphemism that is meant to conceal simple anti-Semitism. Netanyahu, Lieberman and all the coalition members who use this terminology in an attempt to hide their capitulation to pressure from the Left, the Arabs, Obama and the rest of the world must know that they have been ensnared in anti-Semitic semantics. There is no difference between negating the right of Jews to live in the mountains of Samaria and negating the right of Jews to walk on the sidewalk. The term "illegal outposts" is a salute to Goebbels. Period.

Those people who do not have the tools to understand Israel's uniqueness in the eyes of G-d will necessarily adopt anti-Semitic premises. A Jew can not be normal. If he does not accept that he is chosen by G-d, he will ultimately stoop lower than anyone else. That is why in the battle currently being fought between the Islamic front and Netanyahu, the score is 3 to nothing.

In order to defeat the enemy, it is imperative to understand who he is. But a person who cannot identify himself cannot identify his enemies, either. He loses even before the game begins. If he cannot defeat his enemy - he ends up joining him - and channeling his energies inward - against the "illegal outposts" instead of fighting his real enemy.

Let us analyze the battlefront that Israel faces. It is comprised of four major players: Mahmoud Abbas, Mahmoud Achmadinijad, Barack Hussein Obama and Binyamin Netanyahu. The first two want to destroy Israel and replace it with a Moslem entity. The third is patently pro-Moslem and consistently supports the first two. And the fourth doesn't really understand who he is. He attempts to be "pragmatic" in a struggle that is completely religious and willingly folds up the barriers blocking the first three.

Here is how the pre-game warm-ups have gone in the short time that Netanyahu has been prime minister:

Mahmoud Abbas refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state prior to the start of negotiations. Obama supported Abbas' positions and Netanyahu, of course, gave in. The result is that Israel recognizes the "Palestinian nation" and its right to a nation state in the Land of Israel, while the "Palestinians" - with the rest of the world following suit - do not recognize the right of the Jews to have a state in their land. That's a goal for the "Palestinians." The score is now one to nothing.

Mahmoud Achmadinijad doesn't have a bomb yet, but the Jews have already begun to destroy themselves. Netanyahu has surrendered and is channeling Israel's energies against the outposts in a futile attempt to buy international approval to attack Iran. The pictures of the destroyed outposts broadcast throughout the world will help Netanyahu attack Iran like the pictures of the destroyed Gush Katif made Europe repent. It is a clear case of the dialectic of destruction - channeling destructive energy inward against an "enemy" that can be easily defeated. That's another goal for the Islamic front. The score is now two to nothing.

When Barack Hussein Obama released the trial balloon called Bushehr in exchange for Yitzhar, it seemed that Netanyahu could easily deflect this anti-Semitic proposal - that really means that a Jew has to pay for the right to live. The nuclear danger presented by Iran is widely understood in the world and the foolish correlation between the settlements and the need to stop the Iranian threat is easy to invalidate. But last week, Netanyahu adopted the Bushehr for Yitzhar principle and distributed eviction notices to the Jewish settlers.

That's three to nothing for the Islamic front.

We have lost world recognition of our right to a state, we have destroyed settlements and we have adopted the Bushehr for Yitzhar principle - in other words, it is not the Iranians who are the problem - it is the Israelis.

That is the list of Netanyahu's achievements until now.

And the game has not even begun.

Why Doesn't Manhigut Yehudit Lead the Struggle for the Outposts?

By Moshe Feiglin "Why aren't you leading the struggle for the outposts?" we hear time and again. "Before you lead the nation - the least you can do is to lead the settlers!" We fielded the very same questions before the Expulsion from Gush Katif, and we answered them in our (Hebrew) booklet called Lessons from Gush Katif. But now is the time to review some of the facts. After we led a highly successful popular struggle under the banner of Zo Artzeinu, people understood that there were a lot more like-minded Israelis out there than they had originally thought. The public atmosphere created in large part by Zo Artzeinu played a major role in Netanyahu's defeat of Peres in the 1996 elections. But as the newly elected right wing prime minister, Netanyahu did not renounce the Oslo Accords. Just the opposite occurred. He ran to Arafat, shook his hand in both of his, announced that he had found a friend, gave weapons and money to terrorists, released terrorists from Israeli jails (who promptly murdered Jews again) and surrendered most of Hebron to the Arabs. In short, the leaders of Zo Artzeinu sat in jail while Netanyahu carried on along the very path that he had been elected to renounce. Practically speaking, Netanyahu's actions were more damaging than Rabin's. As long as it was the Left surrendering to the enemy, there was still hope that the Right would return to power and put the Israeli train of sanity back on track. But when Netanyahu dedicated himself to the same suicidal process, he gave Oslo the official seal of approval of the national camp and eliminated any chance to return to sanity and life. Clearly, there is no point in reviving Zo Artzeinu, forcing new elections and then voting for the same or improved version of "Bibi". A person who does not learn from his mistakes is a fool. "Nobody denies that Manhigut Yehudit is doing important work. But why can't you lead the political struggle and simultaneously lead the on-the-ground struggle?" people continue to ask. The answer is that that is impossible. Manhigut Yehudit is doing all that it can to help the popular struggle and stands on the front lines with the settlers. But we cannot lead the struggle. Why not? The secret of Zo Artzeinu's success was in the simple declaration that we meant business and would not compromise. That included the willingness to be arrested, incarcerated and subjected to long, drawn-out trials. That is leadership. It is impossible to struggle against the crimes of the regime according to the laws and limits that the regime itself determines. For example, we had a rule during the Zo Artzeinu days that we would not request police authorization to hold demonstrations - even when we knew that they would be completely peaceful. Today, the situation is much worse. Any popular leadership that begins to succeed will find itself behind lock and key in no time, and will have to face accusations ranging from sedition to endangering world peace and everything in between. Due to the fact that these leaders will not be Arabs or leftists, but rather faith-based Jews, the charges brought against them will serve as a reason to disqualify them from running for political office. Manhigut Yehudit is promoting Jewish leadership for Israel. The place where that can be accomplished is the political arena. As we have learned the hard way, a popular struggle that has no political outlet will find itself back at square one. That is why we established Manhigut Yehudit and Jewish leadership for Israel is our goal - to the exclusion of other goals, as important as they may be. We are not making light of a popular struggle. We believe that it is very important, we have explained what we believe to be the correct strategy for such a struggle and we will help in any way we can. But other people will have to step forward to lead it. Another question that we are often asked is, "Where are the Likud MKs to whom we gave our support? Why aren't they standing up now to help the settlements?" First of all, some of the Likud MKs are working hard to stop the destructive process. MKs Danny Danon and Tzippy Hotobeli have already taken initiative and organized widespread opposition to the "two state solution." The Likud Knesset meetings are rife with dissent to Netanyahu's destructive policies. There is no doubt that the majority of the Likud MKs oppose the destruction. In that respect, Manhigut Yehudit and all the people who registered for the Likud have good reason to smile. Please remember: If one quarter of the people who came to Kfar Maimon to protest the Expulsion from Gush Katif and ended up circling the gates of the village for no particular reason would have registered for the Likud, there would have been no threat today against the settlements. It is not too late. Massive registration for the Likud now will send the loyal Likud MKs the message that their constituency expects them to oppose any planned destructions. It will significantly hamper Netanyahu's ability to destroy as he pleases. Experience has proven that registration for the Likud is a powerful tool that has no negative side effects. Do not stand by the wayside. Commit yourself to registering five new members to the Likud every month. Click here, print out the Likud registration forms and fax the completed forms to our office at 09-792-0570, or mail to our office at: POB 21 Ginot Shomron 44853 Israel For more information or for help with filling out the Hebrew form, call our office at 09-792-9046. Some people will undoubtedly ask, "Now? While Bibi is destroying Jewish settlements you want us to join the Likud?" The answer is now, more than ever! The Likud is not just an ordinary political party. The Likud, like the Knesset, is an arena. It is the arena in which the leadership of Israel and the direction that it will take is determined. If you register for the Likud, you can enter the arena and fight for what you believe in. But if you do not even enter the arena where the battle is being fought, what do you expect??? Keep up to date with our latest articles and audio updates Visit our website: www.jewishisrael.org

Taking the Slavery out of the Jews

By Moshe Feiglin

"We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for free" (From this week's Torah portion, B'ha'alotcha, Numbers 11:5)

To say that we got fish for free in Egypt is like fondly reminiscing about the free bowl of "soup" that we got in Auschwitz. Not that the Israelites were hungry in the desert. They had the honey flavored manna to eat. So why the glowing memories of Egyptian fish?

That is simply the nature of a slave. In his book Night Flight, Antoine de Saint-Exup?ry describes the lifestyle of Arab tribes in the Sahara desert. When a slave would become old, he would be freed. But the slave would beg to continue to serve his master. When his supplications would be refused, he would not seek out a new life as a free man. He would simply lie on the sand in the desert and dehydrate for a few days until death would release him from bondage.

Through the spectrum of their slave mentality, the fish that the Israelites received from the Egyptians was a gift. The horrific price that they paid as slaves was not part of the equation. It was just the way the world turned. It was only natural that the Israelites were tortured and murdered; it was only natural that their baby sons were thrown into the Nile. After all, they were not actually human beings. All that they remembered was the un-natural: the fact that their masters were 'kind' enough to give them a piece of fish.

When Obama makes dealing with the Iranian threat contingent on the destruction of Jewish settlements, what he is actually saying is that we do not have the right to live. But if we would like to continue to breathe this world's air nevertheless, we have to pay. For Jews, life is not a right - it is a gift.

When Netanyahu explains in the Likud Knesset meeting that "We may have to take down illegal outposts as the US demands in order to focus attention on the Iranian threat," he accepts Obama's warped logic.

It makes no difference that objectively, our economic and security situation is excellent. Israel's economy is much stronger than America's. The shekel is stronger than the dollar. We have a modern and well-equipped army. We have "manna" that is delicious beyond belief. But he who is enslaved to the American master, sees none of the above. He thinks that he cannot get by without "American aid" - the modern day version of "free" Egyptian fish.

Nothing will happen if Netanyahu simply tells Obama no. All that he has to do is to step out of his slave mentality. In the meantime, though, the opposite is taking place. Netanyahu thinks that if he destroys the outposts, he will buy approval to act on other fronts. He doesn't understand that he who surrenders his right to free settlement also surrenders his right to defend himself. He who destroys Mitzpeh Yitzhar can no longer attack in Bushehr.