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 Take a look at
the picture to the right. It was taken on Election Day at the Likud
branch in Holon. I do not know the people in the picture. They
approached me at the entrance to Netanyahu's tent and it was clear that
they had voted for me. They didn't vote for me because of Migron. That
entire issue did not even filter into their consciousness. They voted
for me because they are searching for meaning, identity, truth and
integrity. They overcame their fear and created a true alternative in
the Likud.
Every trick and shtick in the book was used and will be used to try to
stop this process; to try to take away our right to choose the
faith-based alternative. Quite a lot of the votes of these good people
were subsequently stolen in the polls. But the fear barrier has been
broken; the faith-based alternative for Israel's leadership has filtered
through to the hearts of the nation. No trick will help. Nobody can turn
off the light at the end of the tunnel.
Vitaly
"I want to thank you," said my neighbor, Vitaly, a senior executive
officer in a successful high tech firm who had taken a day of vacation
to be an observer at a voting station in the Galil. "Thank you for
giving me the ability to express my opposition. Netanyahu is pushing for
a two-state solution and if you had not run, I would not have had any
way to tell him "No!"
Why does something so simple and clear generate so much complicated
reasoning? Why is it so hard to understand the reality in Israel? Why
did we have to spend so much time on this campaign offsetting the damage
done by those who called upon the Likud voters to do nothing?
Voting Fraud
A long trail of eye-witness testimony has made it crystal clear that the
"official" results of the primary were far from exact and that the
excellent results of this vote would have been even better for us if all
the votes had been properly counted.
Some of the observers that we sent to the polls to ensure that the votes
were being counted honestly got more than they bargained for. One
observer had to sit on the ballot box to prevent votes from being
stolen. Another observer was physically removed from the room in which
the counting was taking place. More and more observers have come forward
with stories of apparent fraud.
We have worked hard to prove our claims and have filed an official
complaint with the Likud. It is important to rectify this situation and
to ensure that it does not repeat itself the next time around – and that
is what we intend to do!
Thanksgiving
How can we thank all of our dedicated supporters and volunteers for
their successful efforts to put the faith-based alternative in the
center of Israel's political map? A special thanksgiving get-together is
in the works, to be held on Wednesday, 29 Shvat (Feb. 22). We will
update with location and more details soon. Please save the date. We
want to see all of you there!
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The following is a clip of Moshe's Feiglin's words in a debate prior to
the primaries. To view the video, click on the image. The English
translation is below:
The process that is unfolding right now in
Israel is wonderful and amazing. I am amazed at the achievements that we
have had just like you are, but I am not closing my eyes to the dangers.
I want this process to continue, yet you cannot come and say that there
is nothing to worry about.
What is it that they used to tell us?
"There is nothing to worry about, the process of redemption is on
auto-pilot. We learned the writings of Rabbi Kook, and we know that
everything will be alright. We’ll build settlements, go to yeshivot, and
serve in elite combat units in the army. Our political, judicial, and
academic leaders don’t understand what we are doing because they haven’t
learned Rav Kook’s writings like we have. We know that the redemption is
on auto-pilot, and the only direction is up."
We were stricken by the expulsion from
Yamit, by the expulsion from Gush Katif, yet we did not understand.
We continued to say, "There is nothing to worry about, everything is in
order, because we have 13 Nobel Prize winners." I’m really happy that we
have 13 Nobel Prize winners, and I can mention even more amazing
achievements.
But you cannot say, "Amazing things are happening here, and that is why
there is nothing to worry about." There is something to worry about. I
also believe, like you, that we are in the process of redemption, but if
we don’t do our part, and leave everything up to G-d, we will absorb one
blow after another. We are, in fact, absorbing these blows, constantly.
I would just like to remind everyone here:
Who built Gush Katif? The Labor party.
Who built Yitzhar? The Likud.
What is being built today in Judea and Samaria? The Arab city of Rawabi
and the separation fence. And when you drive to Jerusalem, you must pass
through an international crossing. If we succeed in building a house
inside a settlement, even at this point in time, when the government has
already lifted the settlement construction freeze, we think it’s an
amazing achievement.
I agree with you that, in terms of the big picture, our current
strategic reality is the reality of redemption. But on a tactical level,
when looking at our daily lives, we are seeing that the state of Israel
and its leaders are pushing us away from the Divine and miraculous
redemption, and leading us into a state of retreat.
Today, in the settlements, we are fighting a war of survival, if you
haven’t noticed.
A war of survival!
We hope that Netanyahu will stop trying to delay the Outpost Law [to
legalize settlement outposts], just so that Migron will continue to
exist. I have news for you. With Gush Katif, Peace Now did not petition
the Supreme Court to have the settlements destroyed [unlike with Migron,
which is being threatened because of a Peace Now petition].
There is a real problem. There is a conscious decision by the Israeli
leadership to retreat, to dismantle these great achievements in all
fields, not just with the settlements. I have focused on the settlements
because that’s what is hurting us the most right now, but in reality
this retreat is affecting all areas of life, including education and
culture.
There is this big fan that they’ve put before us that is blowing away
all of the amazing achievements that we’ve attained, and trying to
scatter and break them all down. Now, we can try to run around and catch
one of these things as the wind carries them away, and get an Outpost
Law, or hold a protest that will stop another retreat. I’m not against
these types of tactics. I also used them. I established "Zo Artzenu"
["This is Our Land," which held nationwide protests in the 1990’s] to
try to stop the Oslo Accords, but someone at some point must take hold
of this big fan and turn it in the opposite direction.
That is why I established Manhigut Yehudit:To put together a new agenda,
to give the public some sort of goal, some kind of alternative to the
current path that we are on. To come to the Jewish public in Israel with
some sort of hope - a vision towards which we can work.
It’s not enough to sit in the cockpit of a plane, behind the controls,
and constantly focus on evading the next anti-aircraft missile fired at
it. The plane needs to have some sort of destination toward which to
fly.
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"And you will
be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (From this
week's Torah portion, Yitro, Exodus 19:6)