By Moshe Feiglin
January 4, 2006
The following are translated excerpts of Moshe Feiglin's press conference on Sunday, the 1st of Tevet, min which he withdrew his candidacy for the Knesset:
Allow me to share with you a few extremely significant words from the Torah that have been engraved on my heart since I was a young boy:
"I am a G-d fearing man."
With these words, Joseph turned to his brothers, who did not yet know his true identity. "I am not just a standard, G-dless politician," he assured them. "You can feel safe, you are in good hands -- I am a G-d fearing man."
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the type of leadership that the State of Israel needs -- leadership that has a G-d. As long as it depends on me, I will continue to run for the leadership of Israel's national camp in order to provide our country with G-d fearing leadership. Reports that I gave in to pressure or made some kind of deal are simply untrue. I do only what I believe will advance my goal of Jewish leadership for Israel. I ran for the leadership of the Likud despite all the pressure to drop out and against all odds. I will continue to build the belief-based alternative for Israel and I will run for the leadership of the Likud at every opportunity.
However, the issue currently at hand is not leadership of the Likud, but rather membership in the Knesset. It is no secret that I am much less motivated to be an MK. I have debated this issue at length with my peers, and I always claimed that it would be a mistake for me to enter the Knesset at too early a stage. The true sovereign in Israel is not the People and their elected representatives, but rather the Supreme Court and other un-elected bodies empowered by it. The true sovereign will see to it that if the People vote for the Left, they will get the Left -- and if they vote for the Right, they will get even further Left. I am not looking for a Knesset seat and have no penchant for making fiery speeches. I seek to catalyze a true change of direction. I am concerned that if I would be in the Knesset, I too would become part of the problem, as has happened to the right wing and religious parties in the Knesset, who are used by the Israeli "enlightened" dictatorship to create a facade of democracy. I seek to enter the Knesset as the head of the ruling nationalist party, with widespread public support for a true change of direction. I seek to return sovereignty to the People and to return our country to the Jewish majority in Israel.
In the elections for head of the Likud we achieved significant gains. I immediately and publicly sent the winner my blessings, and I expected that from that moment and on, all of our energies would be united to win in the upcoming general elections. To my astonishment, just the opposite occurred. Two weeks have just been wasted on a meaningless conflict inside the Likud. The Likud Central Committee was pointlessly convened and the elections for the Likud Knesset list were postponed for the simple purpose of eliminating me from the Likud.
Now that the Likud Court Judge Tzvi Cohen has once again reiterated the facts that no moral turpitude is connected with my "crime" of protesting the Oslo Accords, I am officially withdrawing my candidacy for the Likud Knesset list. I am not interested in eternal antagonism within a party that is not presently capable of changing its direction in a fundamental way. This internal friction harms the Likud. Instead, I will continue to spread the principles of Manhigut Yehudit -- free of the constraints of the Knesset -- and I will continue to build Manhigut Yehudit's power base until the next election for leadership of the Likud.
I brought Manhigut Yehudit's principles to the voters in a completely democratic way. I do not think that our demand for Jewish education is extreme. I do not think that expressing our desire to return to traditional family values justifies the anti-Semitic demonization that we suffered. The State of Israel is collapsing. It is in dire need of leadership that believes in G-d. This is my life's mission. No condemnations, personal attacks or distortions of the truth will stop me from doing all that I can to establish true Jewish leadership for Israel.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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