December 1, 2008

Weak Israeli leaders create an atmosphere in which terrorists understand that they receive a reward for terror. Whether it is releasing murderers from prison cells, offering Jewish land for the illusion of peace, or persecuting Jewish citizens who cling to their heritage and their holy Land of Israel, a signal is sent out that terror pays and pays big.

Yesterday, Yechiel Leiter - the alleged “right-winger” and former Benjamin Netanyahu campaign manager who is running for the Likud’s Knesset list - made an astounding statement that should be a wake-up call to those who love the Land of Israel. Leiter publicly and unashamedly stated that, “If I have to choose between receiving 0% and receiving 50% [of Judea and Samaria], I choose the latter.” He added that, “if we don't declare our own borders they will be declared for us.”

Yechiel Leiter's clear implication is that Israel is not a sovereign nation but just a puppet of the nations of the world. Leiter’s statement comes on top of his own “Leiter Plan” in which he advocated the destruction of 11 Jewish towns. He added that, “We will tear our clothing in mourning [for these towns]. We will sit shiva but the nation will accept it. There will be only 2% who won’t accept it.” Ostensibly, Leiter does not include his town among those who he deems eligible to be destroyed.

The Jewish Nation has already "sat shiva" for thousands of Jews who have been murdered as a result of the sin of giving away parts of our G-d-given Land of Israel.

David Ben-Gurion said that no Jew has the right to give away any of the Land of Israel. Menachem Begin assured us that by giving away the Sinai we would forever keep all of Judea and Samaria. Yitzhak Rabin only pledged autonomy to the Arabs.

Manhigut Yehudit officials ask Yechiel Leiter why it is by his word that the Jewish People should forever give away to our sworn enemies the Land which we have been given by our Creator. We ask by what hubris (and by what logic) does Yechiel Leiter – who touts himself as a religious Jew who has been instrumental in the settlement enterprise – think that he is the one to "save Israel" by creating a terror state in our biblical heartland.

Leiter's statements that concessions are inevitable further the minority, leftist, suicidal plan to amputate the biblical heartland of Israel. Leiter's words not only are dangerous to Israel’s physical existence, but they also contradict the official Likud Charter which calls for the annexation of all areas of Israel liberated in the 1967 War.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Schneerson, a true Torah giant and Jewish leader of this generation, warned of the danger to Jewish lives of negotiating Jewish Land. He also explicitly stated that it is forbidden to cede to a non-Jew, even a tiny strip of the Land of Israel. Unfortunately his warnings continue to be unheeded by most of those leading Israel.

Less than 48 hours after two of the Rebbe's emissaries were brutally murdered in India for the sole “crime” of being Jewish, Yechiel Leiter dishonored their memory by speaking of further concessions.

Israel needs new leadership that will cling to its heritage and its land in the example of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and his emissaries.

On December 8^th, Likud voters can choose such a candidate. No, it is not Yechiel Leiter. It is Moshe Feiglin, who will restore Jewish values and Jewish pride to the state of Israel. He will stay true to the Land of Israel (and to the Likud Charter's statement on the Land), the Jewish People, and our Creator.

When Moshe Feiglin enters the government in the party which controls the country, he will do everything in his power to move Israel in this direction. A “belief-based” Knesset Member like Feiglin in the Likud party – with clear aspirations for the Prime Minister’s office in the near future – will set off a revolution of thought throughout Israel that it is possible (and necessary) for Israel to change course, to survive, and to thrive by clinging to its heritage.

Rob Muchnick, US Director