Monday, August 04, 2008

The Uzi Dayan Disorder


By Moshe Feiglin


It is difficult to fathom the obsessive drive of the national camp to obtain approval from the 'lords of the land.' What compelled Menachem Begin to include Moshe Dayan in his government over twenty years ago? What compels Binyamin Netanyahu to include Moshe Dayan's nephew, Uzi, in his party today?

This phenomenon will be researched someday. But its results are already clear. We know which direction Begin took at Camp David after some prodding by Moshe Dayan and we also know which direction Sharon took in Gush Katif after including the Labor party ministers in his government.

Uzi Dayan's inclusion in the Likud points to one of two possibilities: The first possibility is that the Likud will not win the next elections. The Likud voter base is in the Right. Its chance to return to power lies with the disenchanted ex-Likudniks who now vote for Lieberman, Shas and other small rightist parties. Decorating the Likud with leftist feathers will not help it to retrieve the full third of Israel's voters who currently identify themselves as right of the Likud.

The second possibility is even worse. The Likud just may win. But the Defense Minister in the Likud government will be either Ehud Barak or Uzi Dayan. The Likud would then have to quickly make good on the seal of approval that it bought from the Left. In current terms, the currency with which the Likud will buy its approval is called 'Convergence'.

General Uzi Dayan is a card-carrying member of Israel's leftist elite. He is one of the major advocates of Oslo. The fact that a general of his stature was on the Oslo staff gave Rabin and Peres just what they were looking for - a 'military expert' to lend the murderous agreement an air of sound military judgment. Dayan was also an ardent proponent of the 'Disengagement' and of the 'Separation Fence'.

So what brings a leftist like Uzi Dayan to the Likud? Politics. The party that he had established, Tafnit, went nowhere quickly. Dayan understands that the Likud is poised to re-take the government and he wants a piece of the pie. Small matters like ideological contradictions do not get in his way.

Corruption takes on different forms. Monetary corruption is bad. It undermines the foundations of society. But there is a worse form of corruption - ideological corruption. It is hard to measure ideological corruption and nobody can be tried for committing it. But the ability to jump from one ideological bandwagon to the next any way the political wind blows has brought Israel to the brink of the destruction that we are all feeling today. This corruption joined the Likud on Tuesday.

The Short Term Solution
Uzi Dayan has to overcome a few hurdles on his path to Likud glory. The most significant hurdle is the Likud voters. Now is the chance for all the frustrated nationalists to join forces and explain to the Likud voters that the combination of a leftist head and Likud hands will bring about the convergence, G-d forbid. The time to stop the convergence is now. The nationalist groups can go from Likud house to house to explain who the man they are being asked to vote for really is.

The Long Term Solution
We have been marching on the long term path for eight years. By joining the Likud and strengthening its ideological elements we have been able to establish a faith based alternative for leadership of Israel.

There is no vacuum in politics. Either we are in the Likud in large numbers, or Uzi Dayan is.

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