Divine Sovereignty or no Sovereignty

By Moshe Feiglin

"And six years you shall sow your land and you will gather its produce. And the seventh let it rest and lie fallow. Six days you shall do your work and on the seventh day you shall rest." (From this week's Torah portion, Mishpatim, Exodus 23: 10-12)

The Land of Israel was given to us so that we could establish a 'kingdom of priests and a holy nation' that would crown the Creator over His world. That is the purpose of the Land of Israel, of Jerusalem and of the royal palace, the Temple on the Temple Mount. Those who renounce their connection to the Temple and to the Mount renounce the foundation on which the entire Jewish home is built. Without the Mount, there is no home. Without the Temple Mount, we are losing the Land of Israel. Without the destiny for which the Nation of Israel exists and for which we received the Land, there is no meaning, reason or validity for Jewish sovereignty. And as we see with our very own eyes, the State of Israel continues its free fall.

When we let the Land rest during the seventh, Shmittah year, we remember that this is our Land, but that there are definitely conditions that we must meet. First and foremost, we must remember the true Master of the Land. We have received His authority to plant and to reap. But during the Shmittah year, this authority is revoked. A Jew who continues to work the Chosen Land during the Shmittah year somehow does not accept the Divine sovereignty of the Master of the World.

The Divine Sovereignty principle in space is parallel to the Divine Sovereignty principle in time. Just as we accept G-d's sovereignty over the Land by allowing it to rest during the Shmittah year, so, when we refrain from work on the Holy Shabbat, we declare that we accept Divine Sovereignty over time. It is our acknowledgement that all the work that we do during the other six days of the week is only with G-d's authority.

*

This week we met with a large group of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Beitar Ilit. Rabbi Yitzchak Brand honored us by opening the evening and amazed the audience with the following fact:

The cursed Oslo Accords - the agreement by which the Land of Israel was handed over to foreigners and on which all the plans to abandon the Land are based - were signed on the White House lawn by Israeli prime minister Yitzchak Rabin, the head of the Organization to Liberate the Land of Israel from the Jews (PLO) Arafat, may his name be blotted out, and US president Bill Clinton. The date: September 13, 1993 - 27 Elul 5753.

It was just a few days before Rosh Hashanah, the new Jewish year 5754, which was also a Shmittah year. On the very day that Israel's Chief Rabbinate - it's rabbinical leadership - signed a contract to sell the Land to a non-Jew, absolving us from fulfilling the mitzvah of Shmittah, Israel's political leadership signed a contract selling the Land of Israel to foreigners, in an attempt to absolve us from fulfilling our destiny in the Land of Israel.

If we don't accept Divine Sovereignty over the Land of Israel, we certainly cannot expect to enjoy Jewish sovereignty, either.

Bibi's Slippery Slope

By Moshe Feiglin

25 Shvat 5770
Feb. 9, '10

In its Friday edition, the Makor Rishon newspaper cited senior American sources reporting that Netanyahu has already surrendered almost everything; the Golan, almost all of Judea and Samaria, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, even some areas inside Israel's 1967 border. In exchange, the State of Israel will be allowed to keep a few settlement blocs. And what has Netanyahu achieved for Israel in exchange for this far-reaching agreement in principle? Nothing. Certainly not peace and not even international recognition that Israel is a Jewish state.

This is not really earth-shattering news. For years, we have been warning that Netanyahu is liable to drag us down a slippery slope. In the end, Netanyahu will not get the settlement blocs. But he will have succeeded in violating the integrity of Israel's 1967 borders.

The simple and sad truth is that the only thing preventing this collapse is Arab intransigence. The Arabs, it turns out, really do not want a state. None other than British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin, not exactly known for his affection for Jews, stated to the British Parliament in 1947: "To the Jews, the essential point of principle is the creation of a sovereign Jewish State. To the Arabs, the essential point of principle is to resist to the last the establishment of Jewish sovereignty in any part of Palestine."

Nothing has changed in the 63 years that have passed since then. The main goal of the Arabs who live in the Land of Israel is to prevent us, the Jews, from having a Jewish state. They do not want their own state. If they really did want one, they could have had it many times over. They have consistently sabotaged every golden opportunity for a state offered them by Israel, with the support of the entire world.

What then, is wrong with Netanyahu's strategy? Maybe he is right when he agrees to surrender everything, leaving the Arabs to once again refuse and appear intransigent?

That may be fine in an anonymous battle of wits. But when the prime minister of Israel agrees to surrender Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel and Jerusalem, it has far reaching and serious implications. No other leader in the world would dare commit such an act. On the practical plane as well, Netanyahu is playing with fire. When Arafat, alone in exile in Tunis, felt he had no choice, he "accepted" the idea of "peace" - at least for the cameras. He got what he wanted and then, of course, surprised the world with his continued campaign of murderous violence. Likewise, Abu Mazen does not want a state, but if the Americans force it down his throat, he just may take it.

If that happens, G-d forbid, it would mean that the only territory in the world that does not have an official sovereign today - Judea and Samaria - will be internationally recognized as non-Jewish territory. The Nation of Israel will have officially surrendered the inheritance that it received from the Creator and that was recognized as such by the nations of the world.

Nationalist Attorney Elyakim Haetzni writes as follows:
"'Fate' or Divine Providence has left the Chosen Land open for the Chosen People, as there is no state in the world that has 'right of return' to Yesha according to international law. The Jordanians invaded and in 1988 they surrendered their claim; the British Mandate that preceded them no longer exists; the Turkish, in the Treaty of Lausanne, surrendered their rights and the Marmelukes are in the museum. All that is still valid, so long as there is no other sovereign, is the mandate that recognized the historical rights of the Jewish nation to re-establish its national home in the Land of Israel and instructed the British to 'encourage dense settlement on the ground, including state lands.' Thus, we are still the rightful owner, and only the rightful owner can surrender his rights.

If, however, a Palestinian state is established with Israel's consent, our land will be considered 'Palestinian'. Afterwards, when the Palestinians breach the agreement and the IDF will once again conquer Shechem, we will always be forced to retreat, because it will be 'Palestinian land.' Nazi Germany was destroyed, but it was exchanged for 'a different Germany,' because it was still 'German Land.'

Woe to the Jewish leader whose name will go down in history as the person responsible for turning Israel's land into Palestinian land. There are Jews who would prefer to die rather than be responsible for such a historical catastrophe, equal to all the physical dangers facing us put together."

In the meantime, "fate" or Divine Providence has saved the Promised Land for the Jews. But in Gush Katif we learned that Divine Providence also expects us to take practical action. We are not on the high, Biblical level of "G-d will fight for you, and you remain silent." And as we know from our Sages, we must not rely on miracles.

Sadly, Netanyahu is not among those Jews who would "prefer to die rather than be responsible for such a historical catastrophe." If given the opportunity, he will certainly send this particular historical catastrophe our way. Clearly, he must be replaced - and the sooner the better.

And now for the good news. The past months have seen a tremendous surge in registration for the Likud. Soon, Israel's political system will emerge from its winter hibernation and that is traditionally the time for political crises - both inside and outside the Likud. We do not know exactly when the Likud members will once again be casting their votes for the new leader of their party. We do know, however, that this scenario will take place and it is very possible that it will happen sooner than we think. Those people who register for the Likud now will be perfectly positioned to prevent the re-election of the same "catastrophe."

If you are an Israeli citizen and have not yet registered, you can register in English on-line here. If you have already registered and would like to check out your status on the Likud voter book, click here.

Israel: The Week In Review

By Rob Muchnick

US Director, Manhigut Yehudit

As usual, a lot of crazy things happened in Israel this week. Let’s take a look at two of them:

First - the Goldstone Report which blames Israel for war crimes in last year’s Gaza incursion has got the whole world turning against Israel, even though - according to one British military observer - Israel fought the most restrained, humane, “protective of enemy civilians” war in the history of mankind in Gaza. Of course, at Manhigut Yehudit, we opposed Israel’s actions in Gaza because Israel didn’t fight to win, and it didn’t fight to get back the previously given-away parts of our Holy Land. Of course, this blood-libelous report is what we get for not doing what we should have done.

Nevertheless, Goldstone is causing quite the uproar in the Knesset. This week, the Knesset saw a report which stated that 92% of the anti-Israel citations in Goldstone were provided to the Israel-hating Jew Goldstone by groups funded by the New Israel Fund (NIF). An investigation was called for by many MKs to look into the funding of the NIF, as it receives funds from Europeans who wish us no good.

Of course, it also receives sizable funding from many Jews. You want a coincidence? Many of these same Jewish donors who fund the NIF also fund the Ford Foundation, which then funds the NIF.

You want another coincidence?

Well, these same donors also are on the various executive Committees of Birthright Israel. So what kind of drek are they teaching the kids who come over to Israel for the first time in their lives? They’re teaching them that the Arabs and the Jews must share Israel, and that Israel must give away her Holy Land to the murdering thugs who are trying to kill us. They teach them about pluralism, and that people who have any, dare I say, “normal” Jewish thoughts in their heads like, “The land of Israel belongs to the Jewish People”, are considered extremists and must be shunned. Oy gevalt!

Next, our leftist, appeasing Defense Minister with the Napolean-complex Ehud Barak stated that Israel’s biggest problem is not Iran, but the “palestinians”, because Israel will be destroyed if we don’t achieve peace with the “pals”, whereas Iran’s nuclear-tipped missiles are nothing to worry about. On this point, we have an inadvertent look into what we are really fighting. The Hellenist Barak cares not about whether or not Iran destroys Israel, but only cares about losing power to a proud Jew like Moshe Feiglin, as the continuation of the fraudulent Oslo process will sooner rather than later bring a proud Jew into the leadership of Israel. Barak is an Israeli first & foremost, & only deep down under his suit is his Jewishness hidden.

Just as the famous Israeli soldier Shlomo Baum said about Shimon Peres that “Peres cares not if Israel is reduced to a pile of ashes as long as he’s on top of it,” the same applies to Barak. May G-d grant us the gift of having Jews who want to be Jewish lead Israel and make it into the proud Jewish state it must become.

Manhigut Congratulates Avner Netanyahu on Being a Bible Quiz Finalist

With all sincerity, Manhigut Yehudit congratulates Avner Netanyahu - the Prime Minister’s 15-year-old son - on his victory this week in the Jerusalem District Bible Quiz. He now advances to the nationwide Bible Quiz final round.

The Torah remains the foundation that has sustained the Jewish People throughout the long exile. Manhigut Yehudit and Moshe Feiglin take pride in every Jew that takes the time to learn it.

While we certainly differ greatly on political matters with Prime Minister Netanyahu, we congratulate him on his son’s tremendous achievement.

Our heartfelt wish for the Prime Minister is for his son to teach him the Torah, so that he will understand that the Land of Israel was given to the Jewish People by G-d and cannot be given away by any man.