Israel Matzav

Jewish Home can be replaced?

Labor's Shelly Yacimovitch says that her party will join the coalition to keep the government afloat in the event that Jewish Home leaves the coalition over 'peace talks.'

Opposition leader Shelly Yacimovich (Labor) said Tuesday night that her party will "support positive, significant steps toward reaching an agreement."

"If we are on the cusp of singing a treaty and [Economic and Trade Minister Naftali] Bennett threatens to quit, we won't be the opposition, and will reexamine entering the government," a spokeswoman for Yacimovich explained Wednesday.

Labor responded enthusiastically to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani's announcement in Washington that the Arab League would be willing to deviate from pre-1967 lines. Nearly all of the party's MKs released statements welcoming the change.

Netanyahu may not need the support anyway. Drunk on power, Bennett and Jewish Home are already looking for ways to stay in the government even if it makes concessions to the 'Palestinians.'

A senior Bayit Yehudi source explained that, the Bayit Yehudi doesn't oppose negotiations, but is against the government giving up any territory.

However, if such concessions are authorized in a referendum, the party will accept the will of the people, the source said.

Bennett hopes to turn the current law, requiring a referendum before conceding any land under Israeli sovereignty, in to a basic law, which has constitutional status. He has been met with opposition from within the coalition, as Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and her party are adamantly against a referendum, and Yesh Atid is undecided.

The current law does not include Judea and Samaria, which is not under Israeli sovereignty, and the Bayit Yehudi is trying to find a legal solution for them to be part of new legislation.

The Bayit Yehudi doesn't oppose negotiations, faction chairwoman Ayelet Shaked said on Tuesday, as long as there is a “give and take, not give and give.”

“There’s nothing new [in the Arab League announcement. Former prime minister Ehud] Olmert and [former US president Bill] Clinton talked about this. No one thinks that 400,000 people can be removed from their homes,” she said.

Meanwhile, one of the few MK's with integrity has already announced in a letter to his party colleagues that although he is a member of the Likud, he will not cooperate with the coalition.

This Sunday, the 18th of Iyar, the Commander of the David Region called me and told me that by “direct instruction from the Prime Minister,” I would not be allowed to ascend to the Temple Mount the following morning.

At this point, the final mask has been lifted. I could no longer evade the issue and blame lower level officials. Nobody attempted to claim that there was a local security problem. After all, I was notified the day before my planned ascent, when the Mount was completely quiet. The situation became crystal clear: The Moslem wakf terrorizes Israel’s government, decides which MKs will ascend the Mount and which will not – and it is none other than the Prime Minister who implements their directives.

This is not a personal issue. Today, the police informed the Knesset Interior Committee that was scheduled to tour the Temple Mount next Tuesday, the 27th of Iyar, Jerusalem Day Eve, that it will not be able to visit on that day or any other day – due to the wakf’s objections. Whoever represents the sovereignty of the State of Israel in the eyes of the sovereign on the Mount – the wakf, is not allowed to visit there. Once again, the wakf demand is implemented by the government of Israel.

I do not have to explain the severe significance of these events to the Knesset Members of the National Movement. All the red lines of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem have been trampled and breached. This is in addition to the infringement of the law inherent in these decisions, the violation of the Jerusalem Basic Law and other Basic Laws. These decisions make a mockery of the immunity and sovereignty afforded to Israel’s Knesset Members. We are facing a new reality that obligates us all to act in an unconventional manner.

I would like to make it clear that the last thing that I want is to find myself in a conflict with the Prime Minister, who I highly respect and am careful to honor. I clearly have nothing to gain from that. Clearly, I do not wish to create difficulties for the rest of the members of the faction. Just the opposite: When I was elected to the Knesset I made no demands. I was happy to accept the duties and tasks that were offered me and I believe that it was obvious to all that I have put every effort into giving the maximum for our common goals.

But what is all my work in the Knesset worth if the Knesset, as it turns out, surrenders Israel’s sovereignty in the heart of Jerusalem?

Who is the sovereign in Jerusalem when the Moslem wakf determines which Knesset Member is allowed or not allowed to ascend to the most holy of places – to the Temple Mount? Who exactly are we fooling? Have we forgotten our vow, “If I forget thee, Jerusalem, may my right hand be forgotten”? What is this vow worth if we ignore the terrible reality in which the wakf dictates to Israel’s government what to do on the Mount, in defiance of the law?

If we could have deceived ourselves until now that we are the sovereign and the wakf acts as an extension of our sovereignty, it has now become clear that it is the government of Israel that acts as an extension of the wakf. We are paving the way for them to rule the entire Land, as the poet of the National Movement, Uri Tzvi Greenberg, warned: “He who rules the Mount rules the Land.”

A red line has been crossed. It was forced upon me with no chance for discussion and does not allow me (and in my opinion, does not allow you, either) to continue to conduct “business as usual.” How can I face myself if, for the good of my political future, I will abandon the Temple Mount?

With a heavy heart and totally converse to my original intent, I am forced to suspend all my regular parliamentary activity. I know that we have just begun this Knesset term and we all have goals and ambitions to accomplish as much as possible. But there are moments in life when one must put everything aside and act according to his conscience. The Temple Mount, the rock of our existence, is calling us. This is the moment.

Respectfully,

Moshe Feiglin

Naftali Bennett and Co. have an awful lot to learn from Feiglin.

Labels: Arab League, Binyamin Netanyahu, Israeli Knesset, Jewish Home party, Labor party, Moshe Feiglin, Naftali Bennett, Temple Mount, two-state solution

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:19 PM