A few days ago I blogged that Moshe Feiglin and his Manhigut Yehudit was giving up on the Likud. Finally, Feiglin came out with an official statement which agrees with much of what I've been saying about the Likud, but it voices hope, a chance, that the Likud will "regain its status as the ruling party of the national camp."
To me it would be a good move to make a strong working agreement with the National Union which is the political party that most closely shares the ideology of Feiglin and his followers. Unlike Feiglin's originally announced game plan for the Likud, "taking it over," his faction must learn to forge alliances and work together with others.
The Israeli political scene and history is full of parties, which grew quickly from nothing. So considering the strong Right wing in the kishkes gut feeling many Israelis have, there is great potential for such a party.
The Likud hasn't been reliably Right for decades.
13 comments:
Don't oversimplify the difficulty that Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit face. Feiglin underestimated the level of corruption that he would have to face. Nonetheless, if he should pull out, it would only be meaningful if he can take a significant bloc out of the Likud with him. He must also convince many people who joined Yisrael Beiteinu to join him. Yisrael Beiteinu is another pseudo-right party. It is bankrolled by Martin Schlaf of Austria, former owner of the Jericho casino and crony of Sharon and Dov Weisglass. People listen to speeches without doing their homework. NU is a good party, but it does not have primaries or other democratic infrastructure. Most importantly Netanyahu can treat it as an irrelevant splinter party and leave it out of all coalition negotiations. Only if Feiglin, historic Herut people from Likud, Ketzele, Eldad, preferably bringing back Benny Elon, with a large chunk from Yisrael Beiteinu, together create a serious nucleus of the real right which can not be ignored. Otherwise it is all a lot of hot air. The Bayit Yehudi alias NRP is making things very difficult by being Netanyahu's suckers, as is Effie Eitam, who joined the Likud and got absolutely nothing. All he did was give Netanyahu a figleaf of right-wing legitimacy. All those people have to say they ain't working on Maggie's farm no more, but the question is how many will. That is what Feiglin has to determine. Sitting on the side and criticizing and complaining is easy when you don't have to take responsibility.
goyish, one thing you wrote is super correct:
"Feiglin underestimated the level of corruption that he would have to face."
The rest is dependent on too many "if's."
We already know that people like Effi Eitam etc don't have the political kishkes to do what people wish they would. "historic Herut people from Likud" are relics, not true leaders. They don't burn with the fire.
Primaries in NU should be negotiated as part of the alliance agreement.
The NU is another useless sectarian opposition party.
Lately, even their teeth gnashing has been very quiet. Must've worn down the enamel.
Bring back the Gimla'im!
Shy, in all seriousness, considering the inherent imperfections, I prefer it to the entrenched corruption and hypocrisy of the Likud.
And it will never go away if you run away across the street, calling it names as you skedaddle.
Shy, maybe ok for sure you haven't known the Likud (Gahal, Herut) as long as we have, but please try to listen. It has only gotten worse in the past few years, yes since Feiglin got in. Nobody has had more brute power than Bibi has today.
Batya, you said that nobody had more brute force than Bibi. Not true. Ben-Gurion did the Altalena and deprived political opponents of livelihood, not Bibi. The difference is that today it is done with much more finesse. The only way to win this is to out-communicate. The alternative media in Israel are not as developed as in America. The public is to the right of the political spectrum and doesn't trust the leftist media. We have alternate media people around (see recent article in Besheva). What we lack is a media theorist to produce simulations and predictions of how to go get them. This is a sophisticated piece of work that needs to be done. You can't rely on high-school kids demonstrating and passing out fliers alone.
goyish, we're talking about the Likud and whether or not Feiglin can clean it up.
Shalom!
Shy Guy, yes indeed the Likud has done more for Israel than NU or any of the other small parties has. Unfortunately the Likud has not done more good for Israel than the NU or any of the small parties has. Better to be slightly useful than incredibly damaging. The events of the past few decades have proven that the Likud has been stricken with an incurable (and infectious, poor Hotobeli) disease called leftism.
AMEN!
Hadassa, it's the other way around. The more that Torah Jews abandon fighting within the Likud, the worse things are going to become.
And regards from Uri Orbach.
Shalom!
I can't stand Uri Ohrbach. Even before he got involved with politics he was too "pareve" for me. Uri Ariel voted against the budget for building inspectors. I voted for him. I've also commented frequently that mergers between the NU/NRP and JH/NU are a mistake. If Feiglin's camp and the NU camp can get together without the NRP, excuse me, Jewish Home, hopefully more right-wingers will join them and leave the ever leftward leaning Likud.
Yes indeed "the worse things are going to become" - for the Likud, which deserves to cease to exist.
AMEN!
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