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Manhigut Yehudit leader Moshe Feiglin
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners February 22, 2005 |
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In a highly unusual, possibly unprecedented move, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz submitted a petition to the High Court of Justice on Monday against the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Yaacov Turkel, and Likud member Moshe Feiglin. Mazuz is asking the court to revoke Turkel's ruling six weeks ago that Feiglin's 1997 conviction of inciting rebellion does not constitute a crime of moral turpitude, clearing the way for him to run for a Knesset seat.
According to Mazuz, "a High Court ruling is necessary in light of today's volatile reality, inflammatory (remarks) in the public arena, which are expected to become even fiercer, and the negative impact that could come of leaving this decision unchanged, from the standpoint of the problematic public message that it conveys."
According to Mazuz, "the type of offenses in question completely contradict the conduct of an MK. At issue is a matter of actively undermining the basis of democratic rule."
To protect democratic rule from alleged subversion, then, the Attorney General plans to ban him from participating in democratic elections.
Mazuz says the blurring in definitions between "legitimate protest and attempts to crumble the stability of the government through ongoing lawbreaking is a privilege that the Israeli society cannot allow itself to indulge in at times like this."
Feiglin has worked through the Likud party apparatus so it is unclear whether Mazuz was referring to the crime for which he had already served time, or some new charge that has yet to be filed.
Feiglin, now head of the powerful Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) movement in the Likud. formerly headed the right-wing Zo Artzenu movement, was convicted of "sedition" in September 1997, following the movement's publications and non-violent demonstrations in 1995, in the months preceding Yitzhak Rabin's assassination.
The indictment charged that Feiglin had decided "to block implementation of government decisions on carrying out agreements with the Palestinian Authority, called on the public to engage in illegal actions, including mass disturbances of the peace and deliberate blocking of central intersections in the country and a call to carry out operations against Palestinians."
Feiglin was sentenced to six months in jail.
Feiglin completed his community service at the end of July 1998 and, before the 2003 elections, joined the Likud and sought a spot on its list. The Basic Law on the Knesset stipulates that whoever has been convicted and sentenced to prison cannot run for Knesset if less than seven years have elapsed since completing the sentence, unless it has been determined that the offense was not one of moral turpitude.
According to Mazuz, Feiglin "concealed his conviction and prison sentence imposed on him," and this was discovered only after then-MK Naomi Hazan petitioned the then-chairman of the CEC, Justice Mishael Cheshin, to bar Feiglin's candidacy.
It is unclear what Mazuz meant by concealing his conviction, since the crime of "sedition" had rarely if ever been prosecuted, and Feiglin's trial was a major event for weeks running.
Cheshin complied and 11 Supreme Court justices upheld the ruling under appeal from Feiglin. Four justices were of the opinion that Feiglin's acts involved moral turpitude, while three others thought otherwise, and no final ruling was made in the matter. A few months ago Feiglin applied to Justice Turkel, who ruled in Feiglin's favor.
Feiglin's faction responds to exclusion attempt
Manhigut Yehudit, the conservative, ideological wing of Israel's nationalist Likud party, responded to Mazuz's petition that the Israel Supreme Court reinstate the verdict of "moral turpitude." "It is clear that Meni Mazuz is desperately trying to ensure that Ariel Sharon will run unopposed for leadership of the Likud party. With the false claim that civil disobedience -- as practiced by Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King -- is a crime of moral turpitude, they seek to prevent my future candidacy for leadership of the Likud party."
Feiglin continued: "I am convinced that Attorney General Mazuz can better serve the citizens of the State of Israel by expediting trial of Omri Sharon. If true, it is his campaign funding violations that show great moral turpitude and are a severe blow to democracy and the principle of fair elections."
"Members of Manhigut Yehudit, and veteran members of the Likud who support them, are making steady progress to ensure that control of the Likud party is wrested from the grip of the Sharon family and returned to the members of the party," said Michael Fuah, Managing Director of Manhigut Yehudit.
"The biggest threat to the Likud and democracy is not Moshe Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit. It's the idea that the party is the personal fiefdom of the Sharon family," Fuah said. "This petition to the Supreme Court is nothing more than a Purimshpiel" -- an absurd play traditionally performed in the upcoming Jewish holiday of Purim.
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