Sunday, December 03, 2006

Another Victory Like This, Manhigut Chanukah Conference

By Moshe Feiglin

According to the poll publicized this week by Arutz 7, if elections were held today, the Likud would get 19 Knesset seats, Kadimah 17, Labor 15 and Guydmak 8.

If this trend continues, the Likud will win the coming elections. But what the poll really means is that the Likud has failed miserably. Never has an Opposition in Israel had a better starting point than what the Likud now enjoys. Never has the State been in such bad condition -- bereft of any goals, an ominous feeling of collapse pervading all the political camps and over 70% of Israelis expressing lack of faith in the entire leadership -- political, security and military. Never have so many Israelis felt that we are living on borrowed time and that the State has no real ability to protect them.

In an absolutely surrealistic display of preposterousness, the leaders repeatedly attempt to convince the public that they cannot protect them. I do not remember any historical parallel to this phenomenon -- national leaders that announce to their citizens that they have no solution to a military problem, yet consider themselves fit to continue to rule. Even when Britain was suffering the German blitz while the Americans would not even send them one bullet and Hitler repeatedly offered them generous peace proposals, the British leader had the courage to tell his citizens that there is a military solution.

But Olmert's spin doctors have developed the opposite strategy. They work to discourage the public and to convince them that there is no solution. As long as there is no solution, the current band of fools can continue to cling to their leadership seats without even providing the most basic commodity with which a normal government provides its citizens -- security.

Why Is the Despair Strategy Working?
In the face of such low public opinion and the absolute governmental madness, the Opposition should have reached greater heights than ever. The Likud today should be getting at least 45 Knesset seats, Kadimah should have shrunk to almost nothing and Labor should have been left with no more than the votes of a few veteran Mapainiks.

That did not happen because despite the public's great despair from the current government, it does not see any real hope or alternative coming out of the Opposition. The public does not see Netanyahu as a leader with a new message. His policies of walking between the drops, dodging responsibility (as he did when he voted in favor of the expulsion) and his undisguised ambition to lead the country without investing time has convinced the public, once and for all, that Netanyahu is not a leader.

More importantly, Netanyahu never succeeded in convincing the public that he has a real alternative plan. The spin doctors' despair strategy works because it has a nucleus of truth. Netanyahu really is incapable of doing a better job. So in the meantime, many of the people who voted for Kadimah and Labor are staying there.

Lighting Up Israel With Hope
Manhigut Yehudit's Chanukah Conference is so important because it holds out true hope. There is a real alternative to the foolishness and despair with which our current leaders so expertly permeate the atmosphere. Manhigut's message is that there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel, and that we are making great strides toward that light. The hope that we want to hold out to our entire nation will dissolve the despair and carry Israel into a new era: The era of authentic Jewish leadership for the Jewish People.

Join us at our Chanukah Conference and start illuminating your surroundings with enthusiasm, faith and anticipation of the belief based revolution. Together, we will transform the darkness and despair into the light of perfecting the world in the Kingdom of Heaven. See you at the Conference!

Manhigut Chanukah Conference Launched
The Manhigut Yehudit Chanukah Conference is on its way! Invitations are being sent out, our telephone staff is making phone calls, posters announcing the Conference have been hung throughout Israel and advertisements in the newspapers invite the general public. The excitement is mounting and our volunteers report great enthusiasm for the event. All of our energies are focused now on one goal -- the success of the Chanukah Conference as the kickoff to attaining leadership of our country.

We know that in order to succeed, we need faith. That's why Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu and Rabbi Uri Sharki will be speaking at the Conference.

We know that in order to succeed, we need leadership and a clear plan. That is why we'll be hearing from the leaders of Manhigut Yehudit at the Conference.

We know that in order to succeed, we need to mobilize the Orange Camp. That is why Eran Sternberg will be the Master of Ceremonies at the Conference.

We know that in order to succeed, we need to believe that we can conquer the darkness. That is why the Conference is dedicated in memory of Adir Zik, z"l

We know that in order to succeed, we need the joy that comes with performing a mitzvah. That is why we will sing and dance with artists loyal to their nation -- Ariel Zilber and Aharon Razel, who will provide the entertainment at the Conference.

We also know that in order to succeed, we must remain loyal to the brave Jews who are on the front lines, fighting for us all:

Jonathon Pollard is first. If he, G-d forbid, will not be able to join us at the Conference, his wife, Esther, will light the first Chanukah candle in his honor.
The second candle will be lit by a representative of the young girls that refused to recognize the authority of the court, paid a heavy price and showed us all the way in which to deal with the bullies in judges' cloaks.
The third candle will be lit by the heroes of the outposts who have been forcibly expelled from their homes with administrative orders.
The fourth candle will be lit by Shoshi Greenfield, who demanded that the ex-Chief Rabbi of the IDF leave the funeral of her brother who was killed in Olmert's Convergence War.
The fifth candle will be lit by the soldiers who dared to refuse to fight in the war that was meant to "give momentum to the Convergence Plan."

You can also do your part to help the Conference succeed.

Join us at Manhigut Yehudit's Chanukah Conference!!!
Your presence at the conference empowers us to establish belief based leadership for Israel.

Join us on Tuesday evening, the 28th of Kislev (Dec. 19) at 7 p.m. at the Renaissance Hotel in Jerusalem for our Chanukah Conference.

The Conference is the place to be for everybody who wants to lend a hand and save Israel. Manhigut Yehudit representatives from throughout Israel will be available so that you can sign up to help in your own community. Manhigut Yehudit's Educational Director, Dovid Shirel, will also be at the Conference to organize Manhigut's English speakers into a dynamic Manhigut force that can really turn things around! Don't miss it and be sure to bring your friends! For questions, details, contact Dovid: shir@manhigut.org or call 02-996-1123 (Israel).

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Jason, Moshe and Shmuel,

My husband and I just spent 11 days in Israel, including the "general" strike that delayed our flight out by one day. We visited friends of ours who just made aliyah in September, and I managed to get in some good words about M"Y. I believe they will vote for you; somehow, they haven't signed up yet for a party.

I wish you kol ha-kavod in this kickoff of your political campaign. Just a few general observations:

1. Push as hard as you can. Many people out there (if I can judge from the comments I see on A-7, Israpundit and the like) do not perceive M"Y as strong enough to overcome the likes of Netanyahu, or to defy the current political culture in Israel, which seems to be perceived as a force of nature (which brings up the question of why everything from the Left seems to be perceived as a force of nature, while everything from the Right is opposable--this is from personal observation of what happens during a general strike from someone outside the situation). We need to be a force of something greater than nature...

2. It's been a while since I've seen an interview with Moshe, but I hope whomever records videos of him has learned this: He should face the camera every time he is seen speaking. I have seen videos of him on your site where he faces sideways. This is not good visual communication, and may contribute to the opinion of some that Moshe is shy and uncharismatic.

I can't wait to see what you do next. I wish I could be there for your kickoff. But we are preparing for the next best thing...aliyah.

Best regards from the Goldmans of Delaware, soon to be the Bar-Levis!

Anonymous said...

A flicker of insight into why the Left is perceived as a force of nature...and what Manhigut Yehudit can do to change it

I was in Israel this past November 29-30 and had the privilege of witnessing at first hand an event that afflicts Israelis of all stripes every so often: a general strike.

Yippee! Just like home...if it happens to be France. So European. So socialist.

If you have only read about these unique events in the news, you cannot appreciate the attitude people have towards them. Although many services are cut off -- among them, seaports, airports, the post office and the garbage collection are shut down -- it seems that people enjoy the opportunities that go along with them, like parking in spots that are otherwise off limits. You see, the meter maids (or whomever gives out the parking tickets in Israel) went on strike too.

I didn't see other manifestations of disdain for laws that are normally written for the public good. However, I wonder what happens when the police and firemen go on strike as well. After all, when a nation has a national labor union, anything can happen.

Government payrolls can get pretty inconsistent when taxes are not paid. During this period I read in an article in the Jerusalem Post the comment of an Arab government worker that government workers are treated like slaves. My husband says, if he one day asked his payroll clerk not to take taxes from his paycheck from then on, she'd say "OK, but I won't be able to give you a paycheck." Perhaps we don't understand the situation, but it looks pretty simple to us as American Jews.

When people are protesting because they are about to be thrown out of their homes, shouldn't there be some benefit for the general population similar to suddenly-free parking spots? After all, if it's all about "what's in it for me," the present system seems to have that all worked out -- something like the neighboring dictatorships that incite violence against the Jews and Israel in order to deflect criticism and action against themselves.

Seriously, though, people need to be reminded, "what's good for the goose is good for the gander." If it's OK for Arab Israeli government workers to strike and make things inconvenient for everyone, it should be even more OK for ordinary Israeli Jews to stand up for themselves -- whether resisting being thrown out of their homes in Gaza, Judea and Samaria or blowing a shofar during prayer at the Wall -- without being beaten up and arrested. It's only fair.

And, I hope, we can go on from there.

Again, I wish you all the best in your campaign for leadership of the Jewish State!

Eva Goldman/Chava Bar-Levi
3 December 2006

Anonymous said...

first of all if its possible bring audio or video with subtitles of the event in jerusalem even though its in hebrew and if u can there is going to a be a "very proper american suit meeting" in reno nevada at a reform temple soo much for the jewish state and spreading the word to the choir but still have it taped and on the jewish israel site all the best it would be best if it would be a video file tape put onto the website