In These Hope

Rumors are circulating that an agreement is being reached on the settlement issue between Israel and the White House. This report comes from DEBKAfile. The 4 principles of the agreement being reported are so utterly stupid and juvenile, including that relations will revert to their normal "friendly" level, that this could be another big crock of hockey. What is not is the reality that for all intents and purposes there has been a new construction freeze since Bibi took power 5 months ago.

Israel Radio has quoted Avigdor Lieberman as saying that construction is effectively frozen...but not indefinitely, that Israel wouldn't tolerate it for very long, and that they are waiting for the next round of talks with Carp Face.

Regardless of the rumors, every day that passes without Bibi telling the White House to jam the freeze up the ass is another day closer to a potential shut down of communities in Yesha.

I cannot abide the thought of a construction freeze. What's the point? Returning to friendly relations with Marack, who has already made it clear that Jerusalem will be divided, means nothing to anyone with a brain. It means nothing when Fatah has committed itself to destroying Israel.

What I find interesting is the speculation that somehow this agreement could possibly be binding without cabinet approval. This is also the clearest indication that makes me think this report is crap. If Bibi approved a freeze without cabinet approval it would likely mean the collapse of his government, something he desperately does not want. But if it did collapse I wouldn't shed a tear because of what took place earlier this week.

"Bogey" Yaalon's aligning with Moshe Feiglin is a huge deal for the Israeli nationalist camp. Feiglin opposed the Oslo agreement, and helped form a nonviolent resistance movement to it. He wishes to see Israel actually embrace its Jewishness, displacing the secular elites that currently control political discourse, and bring us Israel's continuing participation in the "peace process" charade. He advocates what is essentially the equivalent of Steve Biko's Black Consciousness movement in South Africa.

The Jewish people should be taught their history, not just the history of modern Israel. They should have an understanding of Jewish ethics and modalities. Though institutions like the IDF have philosophical operations rooted in this code, society at large is secularized. A large segment of the population sees themselves more as Israeli, not Jewish. If I understand Feiglin's philosophy, he knows that without Jewish identity living at the center of Israeli culture and life, the nation cannot continue to flourish, it will be consumed by the liberal elites who in the end seek Israel's capitulation to the forces that want it destroyed. It's like they have Munchausen by proxy or something.

His plan for peace with the Palestinians? Pay them financial inducements of $250,000 to every Arab family in Yesha to emigrate. A 2006 poll of more than 1300 Arabs living in Yesha indicated that 1 in 3 desired to emigrate. The collapse of Oslo, the intifada in 2000 which Arafat launched rather than accept the existence of Israel, and the bloody infighting that erupted between Fatah and Hamas, after Gush Katif was destroyed and the IDF pulled out, were cited as major reasons for this. Economic embargoes as a result of terrorist activity, and the IDF presence were also factors. Here's a little irony for the Leftist douchebags of the world... every single one of those reasons is a direct result of the PLO/Fatah/Hamas policy of eradicating Israel, not Israel's desire to make life hell for Arabs. They know Fatah/Hamas/PLO is not going to change and life is going to continue to suck, so why stay?

The other irony is that before Oslo and the international legitimation of Fatah (which means "Conquest") things were pretty stable economically speaking. Once Arafat returned from exile, everything really started turning to shit. The leftist peacenik nonsense has ended up leading directly to a quiet Arab exodus from Yesha.

Hand in hand with an embracing of Jewish life is devotion to G-d. It is my understanding that Feiglin is not one to forcibly legislate religious practice, but if the atmosphere in the country is one in which Jewish pride is embraced then as a natural course people perhaps would be more inclined to embrace all that Judaism stands for, including a closeness with HaShem.

The overarching knowledge that all of the land of Israel is the birthright of the Jewish people, that the land holds our history, and that our relationship with it, and our possession of it is essential to the survival of our people is one of the cornerstones on which Israel must rest.

In my opinion the future of Israel rests on three things:

1. Jewish Consciousness, within the land of Israel, and in Diaspora
2. Possession of all of Israel
3. Love of HaShem

With those things in place Israel will not fail. If Feiglin stands for this then it is my hope that he can successfully lead a takeover of Likud, and help reshape the leadership and politics of Israel so that issues like "settlement freezes" become non-issues because such assaults on Jewish sovereignty will not be tolerated, so that elites that control the media, the political discourse, and the appointments to the courts are shut down.

How can Israel live as a Jewish state, and how can the Jewish people fulfill itself when the government is rife with corruption, when its leaders put the land up to go to the highest bidder, when Rabbis and those that profess to be leaders sell out those that follow them? Don't expect anything to happen at Har HaBayit until this is resolved. At least now a possible path is emerging.

Things are probably going to get a lot harder before we get to the good stuff.