News
Feiglin: Unity government – bullet to democracy's head
Attila Somfalvi
Published: 22.02.09, 11:23
Comment Comment
Print comment Print comment
Back to article
41 Talkbacks for this article
1. Feiglin is right, once again
Sam ,   Ramat Gan, Israel   (02.22.09)
We definitely need someone like Feiglin to be Prime Minister.
2. FEIGLIN FOR PRIME MINISTER!!!!
moshe ,   ashkelon israel   (02.22.09)
He's the only one I can trust.
3. unity government
Yaron ,   Israel   (02.22.09)
I don't think a unity government will be very stable and trustworthy. I think it will be paralyzed by the political sensitivities of all the party's and therefore unable to make strong decisions. So, not a good idea in my opinion.
4. Listen to Feiglin - then we can have new elections sooner
Eric ,   Tel Aviv   (02.22.09)
The so called "right" has no natural partners. Shas and Israel Beiteinu are not natural partners. So go ahead form a government, and then see how much in debt you need to go in order to buy Shas (education portfolio will not be enough for them to allow civil marriages) or what you need to give Liberman (or his replacement) to give up civil marriages and loyalty clause. Either way, we will have new elections no later than August.
5. strange criticism
Israel Israeli ,   Tel Aviv   (02.22.09)
Strange criticism coming from Feiglin. His opinion is that the lack of democracy in Israel is caused by the "justice system". One only has to look at the fake charges against Raful, Ne'eman and apparently Katzav and Lieberman, to see that Feiglin is right. Perhaps Netanyahu is bribing the "justice system" by giving Kadima some ministeries.
6. Feiglin Likud and Democracy
Shaul ,   Jerusalem, Israel   (02.22.09)
Feiglin should better ask his own party why they shoved him so far down the list after he secured so many votes. He is another self-interest politician. He has no policies, no political process for any peace deal, no ecomonic miracle, no solution to the water problem. As with all the rest it is all talk, posturing realpolitik. Is he as Mr Religious RIght going to sit with anti-religious Lieberman? Of course if it suits his needs. Israel has no real leadership
7. Feiglin's a fool
Jack ,   Tel Aviv   (02.22.09)
Moshe, you fool, this is exactly what Bibi said he would do during the campaign. He never promised a right wing coalition. And he was elected based on building a unity government.
8. Mr Feiglin - democracy works best without you!
Sheila ,   Jerusalem,Israel   (02.22.09)
Since the majority of Israelis chose a pragmatic government while accepting the changes to that society suggested by Mr Lieberman....that means that democracy is working very very well if a broad stable government is formed. If you don't like it - stay out!!!!
9. Feiglin is of course 100% correct
Sagi ,   Israel   (02.22.09)
only problem is that Israel is not and never was a democracy. The Politicians have been pulling the wool over the eyes of the Public for 60 years. Ben Gurion was a dictator, a good one, but nevertheless a dictator. All other PMs were the outcome of party decisions as opposed to decisions of the People. A radical change in the system is required. Presidential would be the best but certainly not the half baked idiotism of 50% elected reps. and 50% appointed by party primaries (should read party bigwigs). This again would be undemocratic and defeat the purpose of change.
10. feiglin is mad
alex ,   zurich   (02.22.09)
send him to mad house
11. Bibi is a disappointment from the get-go
Rami   (02.22.09)
He has some aery-fairy notion of working together with the anti-Israelis who deliberately lost 2 wars - what is he thinking? And he's ignoring the larger percentage of voters who wanted a right coalition. Bibi is a huge turn-off before he even gets started governing.
12. Even
Ariel Ben Yochanan ,   Kfar Tapuah   (02.22.09)
B"H Even seeing where evil is, Moshe wants to play their game. This is where the real "fatal attraction" is. www.thetorahrevolution.blogspot.com
13. Right wins, Left rules
Paul ,   Jersualem, Israel   (02.22.09)
Feiglin gave a brilliant observation. The main problem with Israel's democracy is that it allows the leaders to shamelessly ignore the wishes and efforts of the majority that put it into power. Sharon is the pathetic example of this treachery. This country wants a Right government to offset the future merger of the Arabs, the soon-to-be political antagonist in the socialist government in the USA, and the anti-Semitic international body.
14. Ábout "bibi"
Keren ,   Israel-SP   (02.22.09)
Feiglin is right and FACTS show "bibi"is a big ,unclean,cheater. FACTS: -He gave Hevron in the hands of our enemies,pleasing arab enemies. -He acted VERY uncleaningly with Feiglin in the primaries,cheating both Israel and Feiglin. -LIVNI WON THE RIGHT TO FORM THE GOVERN.This is fact.She could have formed a right wing govt,being a bit more centered,but "bibi"cheated all and said he won and now is preparing himself to a bigger knifing in the back of us all,because ,I can bet,he is commited to "piece makers"and will give up Israel to arabs,same as Livni, or even worse. This man IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED!!!
15. Yes. Iran is definitely sizing up little "Bibi"
Steve   (02.22.09)
Here we have a pathetic excuse for a man -- soon to be prime minister of a great nation; Israel. He's running and hiding beneath FM Livni's skirt. Israel's enemies are sizing up this little man. Iranian leaders have to be celebrating. Any self-respecting leader in Iran would have formed a government with strong leaders by now. But not "Bibi." He's too busy lrying to hide under Livni's skirt ratther than form a strong right-leaning government of men. Very sad! Even pathetic! Are there no men in Israel?
16. Bibi Will Be History IF He Violates Our Rightwing Mandate
Adina Kutnicki ,   Israel, new olah   (02.22.09)
Bibi dare not make the same mistake as Sharon. Sharon was elected to effectuate a harsh blow to the terrorists & NOT to hand over our territory. We all know how he violated his mandate. IF Bibi does the same he will never be allowed to govern again. In fact, he will be lucky if he gets elected dog catcher......
17. Right Wing Freaks
Daniel Davenport ,   Baltimore   (02.22.09)
1. I don't like this artical always referering to Feglin as 'hard liner'. He is the normal one. 2. After listening to his interview on Arutz 7 I hope he now realized that he gave terrible advise and that he was the one who should have left Likud as it was only a dream that anyone could make Bibi act like a proud Jew and honor anything whatsoever other than himself.
18. FEIGLIN IS WRONG
FAD EGYPT   (02.22.09)
WELL I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT I PREFER A NARROR RIGHT WING GOVERNMENT LED BY BY BIBI BUT THE FOREIGN POLICY ISNT EVERYTHING THERE IS ECONOMIC WILL BIBI BE ABLE TO MAKE HIS ECONOMIC POLICY WITH THE RELIGIOUS PARTIES ON HAND AND LIEBERMAN ON THE OTHER HAND WILL HE BE ABLE TO PASS THE BUDGET WITHOUT PROBLEMS WILL HIS GOVERNMENT LAST FOR THE THE TENURE ? MAYBE BUT IT IS DIFFICULT AND IF HE DIDNT SUCCED IN THE OTHER POLICIES HE WILL RISK THE NEXT ELECTION AND KADIMA WILL RETURN AGAIN TO POWER SO HE NEEDS KADIMA TO HELPHIM IN THAT ISSUES BESIDE THE OTHER PARTIES THEY WILL DECREASE THEIR DEMANDS BECAUSE THEY ARE WEAK PARTNERS SO BIBI CAN GOVERN FOR THE FULL TENURE MAKE HIS ECONOMIC REFORMS PASSING BUDGETS WITHOUT PROBLEMS THE PROBLEM WILL BE THE FOREIGN POLICY WELL I BELIEVE THAT BIBI CANT GIVE TO KADIMA BECAUSE HE WILL LOSE HIS ALLIES IF FOR EXAMPLE HE DECIDED GOD FORBIDEN TO CONTINUE ANNAPOLIS TALKS AND THATS WILL NEVER HAPPEN LIEBERMAN AND NU WILL LEAVE THE COALITION AND THE LIKUD WILL SPLITS BUT BIBI WILL NOT DO THIS HE WILL PUT A STABLE GUIDELINES FOR TALKS WITH THE PA BASED ON THE ECONOMIC PEACE IF KADIMA REFUSED THEY CAN LEAVE IN THAT CASE THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT FAIL BECAUSE HE STILL HAVE THE RIGHT WING PARTNERS AND MAY ATTRACT THE KADIMA REBELS LIKE MOFAZ AND OTHERS AND JOINS HIM ESPECIALLY WHEN GOLAN AND JERUSALEM ISSUES RISE SO FEIGLIN IS SO WRONG HE DOESNT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING IN LEADERSHIP HE KNOWS ONLY HOW TO ATTACK BIBI AND LIKUD AND IF HE CONTROLED THE LIKUD THEY WILL DISAPPEAR
19. There is no 65 strong rightist majority
Besalel ,   Kew Gardens, NY   (02.22.09)
Netanyahu courts Labor and Livni because there is little alternative. The main problem: Shas/UTJ has 16 seats Lieberman has 15. The two may have some cross-over rightist ideology but differ tremendously when it comes to religious matters. A government with both will be unstable and Bibi knows this. UTJ/Shas and Lieberman have less in common with each other than Labor-Livni-Likud which in fact agree almost on everything. The differences between Labor-Livni-Likud is negligible.
20. Go forth and take the first right on your right
Gideon Reader   (02.22.09)
Unity. Bi-partisanship. All are shreds of mist; wisps of smoke. A chimera that flits across your view in the pre-dawn. It does NOT exist. Kadima is NOT your friend with whom you can share ideology. They do NOT have one. Giving away chunks of Israel is what they do. Nada mas. The voters want a government that will protect and defend them. Their lives. Their homes. Lessen the everyday battering by enemies both foreign and domestic. They want to go about their lives(as Jews in this case) and not be annoyed. For this they will put up with a lot a crap, AND pay taxes. The overwhelming majority said they do NOT believe that Livni (Kadima Charwoman and great "Mossad Beauty") can or should try to do that job. They had their shot and flunked badly. They think that Likud et al, should have the chance to do it. That was very clear. Now without all of the Prince Hamlet Bee Ess Bibi, just put aside all of the kvetching and showmanship, and do it. It is not that hard. Make like Chauncy Gardiner, Be there. Form a NATIONALIST government. It will be a bracing change and if it fails, what have you lost. Reaching across the aisle will just get your fingers cut off or more likely stabbed in the back, by those to whom you reach out for. Let Kadima disappear. If they are not in charge they cease to have a raison d'etre at all. No ideology, no plan, no nada.
21. Feiglin is right
Brod ,   USA   (02.22.09)
Bibi has to form his government without further delay. If Kadima refuses and they have too many preconditions, Bibi should leave them out. Bibi's new government will do well even without Kadima. Israel Right Wing government will reinforce Israel's deterrent which is vital to its national security interests.
22. Besalel #19: You left out NU and the The Jewish Home
Steve   (02.22.09)
Likud and Labor / Kadima should NOT agree on almost everything. At the top of the Likud list are men who opposed Ariel Sharon's immoral disengagement from Gaza. Livni, Barak, Kadima and Labor all supported disengagement. They support further territorial compromise as no doubt so you.. Otherwise why are you pitching for these traitorous parties? "Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday (today) called on his prospective coalition partners not to resort to "arm-twisting and dictation of terms" ...... in light of the many challenges facing the country..." The point is, Israel Beiteinu and Shas should give on their demands for the sake of the national good. Israel Beiteinu should give on it's extremist / secular demands and Shas should give on its welfare demands and its demands for yeshiva funding, etc.; for the good of the nation.
23. likud has become left wing-kadima/labor=arab parties
parties have changed ,   their positions   (02.22.09)
only 3 parties appear to maintain a right wing stance-1.jewish home 2.national union 3.united torah. shas just floats between parties where the money and power is made available to it. i assume feiglin is hoping that the other likud mks convince netanyahu to retire and let him take over when things get rough ,other than this happening he is not presently supporting a right wing party at the moment. as netanyahu made obvious when he made sure that the most right wing likud member-feighlin was demoted inspite of a democratic vote on positions within the likud party.
24. Reply to Steven #22
Besalel ,   Kew Gardens, NY   (02.22.09)
What? Seriously, what are you talking about? Likud has 27, add shas' 11 and utj's 5 plus nu and the mustache men's 7 and you get 50. You still need another 11, which means liberman and shas have to sit together. They can't because on what matters most to each of them, they differ. Likud people voted for the disengagement. Bibi voted for the disengagement. Likud people have no faith in Gd and believe in territorial exchanges. They agree with Labor and Kadima on what needs to be done they just differ on how to do it. Slight differences.
25. The big party
Reuven ,   New York   (02.22.09)
Bibi reminds me of a guy who wants to throw a big party but can't afford to pay for it all by himself so he needs people to chip in. The trouble is that he doesn't care for and is uncomfortable with many of the people who want to chip in. On the other hand, many of the people who he'd like to attend don't care for him or his guests and are very reluctant to chip in unless they can run the party and hand out invites just to those people they like and exclude the others. The question is does the party-maker focus on making the party for those who want to attend even though they may be too religious, too right wing, too secular, or just uncouth or cater to the other group who doesn't care for him or other people who want to join the party by making them co-sponsors with a final say of who can attend the party & the party program.
26. Feiglin is crazy
Ari   (02.22.09)
There is no more delusional fool than moshe feiglin. He thinks that there is a 65 seat majority. There is not. There is 44 seats for the left, 50 seats for the right, and 16 seats for the haredim (UTJ and Shas). The 16 seats of the haredim is politically right wing - but on matters of religion contradict Yisrael Beyteinu positions. The idea that a 65 seat majority could actually function as a stable government is absurd. It is will be unstable and there will be elections in a year, which will be a disaster since it will give kadima another 5 seats....... Follow Feiglin's advice and there will be elections again in a year and the right will lose 5 to 10 mandates to kadima and labor - and therefore the majority...... No one can dispute the simple fact that moshe feiglin is an idiot and doesnt think about any of these things. He can not be bothered with the long term reprecussions of his suggestions/actions. Thus his absurd claim to form a narrow unstable government now and completely disregard the long term consequences of that decision....
27. Feiglin for PM!!
Israeli ,   Israel   (02.22.09)
Bibi has become the Shimon Peres of the Likud...having only managed to win elections against Peres and since then facing 3 Likud election losses under his leadership. It's time for a new leader. Feiglin for PM!!
28. Steve's wishful thinking #22
Avi ,   Israel   (02.22.09)
Steve, NU and Bayit haYehudi got alltogether 7 seats and their importance is as strong as their mutual rift which didn't allow them to run as a united list. Besalel s right; the so-called rightist block parties have much less in common than what Likud, Kadima and Labor do.
29. Adina and Her Rightwing Mandate #16
Avi ,   Israel   (02.22.09)
"Your" rightwing mandate might survive as a united coalition at maximum to August of this year. Please, go back to your US shtelt and take some Hebron Yankees with you!
30. Besalel #24: OK, I see what you are saying
Steve   (02.22.09)
I got the impression earlier that you support a leftist government coalition. What you are saying (I think?) is Likud and Kadima are natural allies because they both supported disengagement; at least several members of Likud, including Netanyahu, supported it. This is true. That is why I thought it wrong for the right to vote Likud / Netanyahu because Netanyahu cannot be trusted to do what is right or moral. Only the parties that reject any territorial concessions should be supported by the right. Netanyahu is not such a man. Though there are some members of Likud who are against territorial compromise even as Mr. Netanyahu embraces negotiations with Israel enemies; Netanyahu, like FM Livni, embraces surrender and retreat in the face of the global jihad. That is why I have never been a Netanyahu-supporter. Netanyahu is a very weak man, as can be seen with his courting of FM Livni. Only Netanyahu has been tapped with forming a government coalition. Should we not encourage as solid a right-leaning government as possible? Maybe with strong right-leaning parties in the governing coalition they will help "Bibi" find a little backbone; a little courage within his feeble, trembling body? That is why National Union needs to be part of the governing coalition. If Netanyahu excludes NU then we know he has not learned anything from his dismal past performance. You are right, Lieberman and Shas are not natural allies, but is Kadima -- the party of surrender and retreat -- better than these two?
Next talkbacks
Back to article