Moshe Feiglin

Moshe Zalman Feiglin (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה זַלְמָן פֶייגְּלִין; born 31 July 1962) is a right libertarian-leaning[1][2][3] Israeli politician and activist, and the leader of libertarian Zionist party Zehut.

Prior to becoming a Knesset member, Feiglin co-founded the Zo Artzeinu ("This is our Land") movement with Shmuel Sackett in 1993 to protest the Oslo Accords.

His family later moved to Rehovot, where he attended the local Tachkemoni school of the Mizrachi movement, and subsequently graduated from Rabbi Haim Drukman's Yeshivat Or Etzion.

[14] According to Feiglin's own words, Manhigut Yehudit was started to "return the country to the people and lead the State of Israel through authentic Jewish values".

[citation needed] He opposes the surrender of what he regards as Jewish land, and has demanded the government take action against the estimated 50,000 illegal Arab structures built throughout the country.

Rather, Feiglin's focus is on reforming Israel as an essentially Jewish State by acting on several campaigns on the religious, social, legal, and security fronts.

[citation needed] Feiglin has advocated removing the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf's control over the entire al-Aqsa complex, and suggested a synagogue should be established on the Temple Mount.

In a TV show with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Feiglin denied that claim, saying he was talking about creating "sheltered areas" for the civilians of Gaza so that Israel could stop rockets by Hamas in a more effective way.

[39] His plan would include annexing all post-1967 land currently in Israel's hands and offering financial incentive for Palestinian families in these areas to emigrate to other countries.

[40] Feiglin pointed to a poll by An-Najah University in Nablus, which showed that one in three Palestinian Arabs would emigrate to other countries even without a financial incentive,[41][42] as supporting his plan.

Democracy should serve the values of the state, not destroy them..."[43] In 2003, Feiglin proposed replacing the Knesset with a bicameral legislature, whose upper house, which would control all "national affairs", would be "composed exclusively of Jews".

[46] In his 2005 book "War of Dreams", Feiglin wrote that his program was: "Israeli citizenship to Jews only [and] the immediate expulsion of any person of another people who claims any sort of sovereignty in the Land of Israel.

Paradoxically, it is only when the Arabs understand that the Israelis do not need them to help them to forget that they are Jews - will we be able to live here in peace with non-Jews who unequivocally accept the fact that Israel is a Jewish state.

"[4] He insisted there is no such thing as a Palestinian people, and that they and Israeli Arabs should relocate, citing a text he had posted on the website of his Manhigut Yehudit ("Jewish Leadership") movement.

In an article in Haaretz, Yossi Sarid quoted Feiglin, in the context of demonstrations against the Oslo accords, as saying, "Hitler was an unparalleled military genius.

[58] A letter to Feiglin from the Home Office said that Smith based her decision on an assessment that his activities "foment or justify terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs; seek to provoke others to terrorist acts; foment other serious criminal activity or seek to provoke others to serious criminal acts; and foster hatred, which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK".

[59][60] Feiglin responded, "Seeing that renowned terrorists like Hizbullah member Ibrahim Mousawi are welcomed in your country in open arms, I understand that your policy is aimed at encouraging and supporting terror.

"[61] Feiglin was arrested for organizing mass acts of resistance and blocked highways across Israel during the period in which the Oslo accords were debated and implemented.

Regarding his organization of peaceful demonstrations and the blocking of intersections without a permit, Feiglin was quoted as stating, "We will do all that it's possible to do, including breaking the law.

Likud Knesset member Limor Livnat stated that Feiglin and his friends are "not real Likudniks", and that his faction "cannot be allowed to prevail".

[64] In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Livnat explained that Feiglin and his faction must be prevented "from taking over, or the party and the state will be in danger", adding that, "this is not democracy, this is anarchy".

Former Likud Knesset members Gila Gamliel, David Mena, Daniel Benlulu, and Ayoub Kara attended the event, despite warnings from Netanyahu's advisers not to do so.

"[66] Feiglin referred to U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden as a "diseased leper" in a 2010 op-ed column published by Israel's third-largest news outlet, Maariv.

[70] Feiglin says that, "When I expressed my opinion on this issue over a year ago, I had no idea that I had climbed atop such a potent barrel of social dynamite...

"[73] ""Throughout history", Feiglin explained, "from Rome to Europe in our day, the approval and spread of homosexuality presaged the decline of nations and cultures.

News accounts of the meeting reported Feiglin's views: "'I am in favor of you having all your human rights, but I am not prepared by the way to invalidate the special value of the classic family', he said and made it clear that he still opposed gay marriage and same-sex parenting.

"[79] When the Jerusalem city government voted to permit sex-segregated public buses, according to the wishes of some ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews, Feiglin supported the action: "I see discrimination against women as despicable.

[82] Feiglin also said he had a "deep problem" with Efrat Chief Rabbi Shlomo Riskin participating as a featured speaker at a Christian prayer rally Glenn Beck organized at the Caesarea Amphitheater in Israel.

[83] These academics, calling themselves Scholars for Israel and Palestine (SIP) and claiming to be "pro-Israel, pro-Palestine, pro-peace", are asking the U.S. and EU to freeze Feiglin's foreign assets and impose visa restrictions.

[84] One of the signatories was quoted in Haaretz as saying the four leaders were chosen because they "were particularly dismissive of Secretary of State Kerry's peace-making efforts, and explicitly call for and work towards the formal annexation of the West Bank or part of it, and thereby push Israel in the direction of violating international law.

Moshe Feiglin campaigning with supporters for the Likud leadership primaries, 2012