An Urgent Message To All Lovers Of Israel
“By the end of 2005, not one Jew will remain in Gaza.”
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
A dreadful feeling is sweeping through Israel—the country is heading toward catastrophe. A Bar-Ilan University study of 6,196 Israelis between the ages of 11 and 15 from a variety of religious and ethnic groups indicates that 40% worry that Israel faces the threat of destruction.
Israel’s ruling elites have committed one deadly blunder after another. Afraid to acknowledge their bungling, they persist in the disastrous policy of “land for peace.” To persist in this policy they resort to deceit, coercion, and even despotic rule. The Sharon Government forcefully expelled 8,000 Jews from Gaza—now a center of world terrorism…. If this were not enough, Kadima, a party that had never competed in an election, gained control of the Government in 2005—something unheard of in any real democracy. Now this party is committed to the expulsion of perhaps as many as 200,000 Jews from Judea and Samaria in order to create a Palestinian state! Only an outright dictatorship can implement this ethnic cleansing of Jews from their heartland. The forced exodus of these Jews, and the resulting missile attacks to which all of Israel will thereafter be exposed, cannot but demoralize the country and lead to its demise.
No party or organization in Israel has the wherewithal to rally the people around a constructive plan—a plan to reverse Israel’s withdrawal to its 1949 Auschwitz lines, a plan to reconstruct Israel’s undemocratic as well as unJewish system government and make it representative of the abiding beliefs and values of the Jewish People.
We urge you to study the plan outlined below and get involved in our effort to prevent Israel’s demise. We are compiling a mailing list of people who endorse our plan. Please see the end of this paper for instructions on how you can get on this mailing list and receive future articles about our plan to save Israel.
The present writer, an American-born political scientist (Ph.D. University of Chicago), has lived and taught in Israel for 30 years, and has written several books and countless articles on Israeli politics. We urge all lovers of Israel to pause ten minutes to read the plan below; at stake is the security of ALL Jews now threatened by the explosion of anti-Semitism throughout the world.
The State of Israel is no longer viable: (1) Most Arab citizens—constituting 20% of Israel’s population—identify themselves with Israel’s enemies. (2) The Government does not enforce the Citizenship Law against Arab citizens who aid or commit terrorist acts against Jews. (3) Israel’s Supreme Court does not uphold the indictment of Arab Knesset Members (MKs) who have incited Israeli Arabs to emulate Hezbollah. (4) The Government’s lax immigration law is diminishing the country’s Jewish majority. (5) The same Court has refused to uphold a law prohibiting any party that rejects the Jewish character of the State. (6) Since MKs are not elected by the voters in constituency elections, but derive their position from their parties, they can ignore public opinion with impunity. (7) Given a Cabinet consisting of five or six or more rival parties, the Government is incapable of pursuing coherent and resolute national polices. (The average duration of a Government is less than two years!) (8) Since the Cabinet consists of rival party leaders, this prompts the Prime Minister to ignore his cabinet on controversial issues and to act as a dictator—as Ariel Sharon did to implement the expulsion of Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria.
The conclusion is obvious: Israel is in dire need of regime change. The Establishment, however, will block any attempt by non-parliamentary groups to introduce systemic change. These groups therefore need the support of a powerful organization outside of Israel! This organization, together with a parallel organization in Israel, would promote the ideological foundations, institutional reforms, and public policies of a future government of Israel. This dual-organization would in effect constitute a “shadow government” operating partly in the U.S. and partly in Israel, until it becomes wholly integrated in Eretz Yisrael. Here is our Plan.
How to Prevent Israel’s Demise
The Problem: Israel’s Decrepit System of Government
- Surveys indicate that almost 90% of the people in Israel are disgusted with its system of government. An increasing majority feels powerless despite periodic, multi-party elections. No wonder! In the January 2003 election, the parties that opposed Labor’s policy of unilateral withdrawal from Gaza won 84 seats. This indicates that an overwhelming majority of the people opposed that policy. Nevertheless, 23 Likud MKs, including their Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, betrayed their voters, in consequence of which the Knesset passed the withdrawal bill by a vote of 67 to 45! Sharon thus made a mockery of democracy. Indeed, one may seriously question the legitimacy of Israel’s Government, as the following facts indicate:
- The first function of government is to protect the lives of its citizens. Yet, under the Sharon Government, more than 1,000 Jews were murdered by Arab terrorists. In defiance of Israel’s highest military and intelligence officials, the Government withdrew from Gaza. The result? Gaza terrorists struck the town of Sderot with thousands of missiles.
- We said MKs are not personally elected by the voters in multi-district elections—contrary to the practice of 85 democracies, 26 of which are smaller in size and population than Israel.
- The Supreme Court, as admitted by eminent Israelis across the political spectrum, is a self-perpetuating oligarchy that scorns the abiding beliefs and values of the Jewish People.
- Former Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin admitted that Israel is governed by a “gang of law” headed by the Prime Minister and the President of the Supreme Court.
- Despite Israel’s democratic veneer, the people cannot reform the system by ordinary political means; and to expect reform to originate in the Knesset is like asking chickens to vote for Colonel Sanders. So, what is to be done to save Israel from this oppressive system?
The Solution: Part I—America
- 1. Let us establish an organization in New York or Washingon, D.C. that will do what no other American Zionist organization has ever done, namely, expose the flaws of Israel’s System of Governance, showing how these flaws are largely responsible for Israel’s repeated disasters. The organization will be staffed by Americans and It will have committees that parallel government ministries—as if it were a “shadow government.” It will have weekly TV and daily radio programs, as well as a first-rate website with links throughout the world. It will establish a nationwide lecture bureau. (There are more than ten colleges and universities in the New York area alone.) It will conduct seminars and publish articles and policy papers. It will start a grassroots movement among college students. All this is quite doable. Although pro-Israel media exist, they are not institutionally oriented. They do not have regime change as their message.
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The two most pro-Israel organizations in the U.S. are Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI) and the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA). These organizations—all honor to them—never critique Israel’s
system of governance. They focus on the flaws of Israel’s foreign policies. They are silent about Israel’s flawed political and judicial institutions that perpetuate those policies. - To reconstruct Israel’s system of governance, our American organization will be integrated with a parallel organization in Jerusalem. With Internet, coordination of activities presents no problem.
- Let us call this organization “Israel’s Future Government: USA” (IFG-USA). No government in exile is intended. We are merely enabling a parallel organization in Israel to prepare the ideological foundations, institutional reforms, and public policies for what will eventually become the Government of Israel in Eretz Yisrael.
- Only such an organization can unite Israel’s disparate non-parliamentary nationalist groups and provide the encouragement and financial support required to mold these groups into a national camp or a
Jewish National Movement. The JNM (see below) will initiate a massive grass roots movement having as its goal the reconstruction of the State of Israel on solid Jewish, democratic foundations. - The JNM will metamorphose into a Constitutional Party. Like no other party in Israel’s history, the candidates of this party will be professionals familiar with the various sectors of public life. The citizens of Israel will know, for the first time, who and what they are voting for.
- Of course, there will be Jews in Israel who will laugh at this enterprise. Some may even be angered. Perhaps others will be SHOCKED—and to shock people out of their apathy is one of the organization’s objectives. Jews in Israel must draw the logical conclusion of their own disgust with the Knesset: their Government does not represent them, indeed, is their enemy!
- IFG-USA will require a first-rate funding network, not only to sustain its own operations but also to assist the Jewish National Movement in Israel. A fully staffed IFG-USA will consist of an executive director; two lawyers (one general, the other constitutional); two political scientists (one general, the other an expert in electoral systems); an economist; a businessman; a rabbi with a degree in the sciences; a public relations expert; a communications specialist; public policy experts; linguists, etc. (Obviously IFG-USA can start with a more modest staff.)
- IFG-USA will have an executive committee consisting, say, of nine members, five of which should be Israelis. (Some will be dual citizens.) Roughly half of IFG-USA policy committees should be chaired by Israelis.
- IFG-USA will seek endorsements by prominent Americans and Israelis.
The Solution: Part II—Israel
The Jewish National Movement
The Jewish National Movement will address the urgent need of Jewish national unity and security and will do so by means of clearly defined, goal-directed Jewish leadership.
- General Aims of the JNM
- To establish a union of non-parliamentary groups unaffiliated with any political party.
- To support and coordinate the activities of these groups in such a way as to enable each to pursue its own distinctive function more effectively and yet magnify their collective influence on Jewish affairs in Israel and in the Diaspora. (It must be emphasized that a Jewish National Movement requires the overcoming of the narrowness that has fragmented the “Right” in Israel.)
- To provide the people of Israel with an alternative to Oslo, one that reasserts Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount, Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. The State of Israel must thus be conceived as the Trustee of the Nation, not its master. The Land of Israel therefore belongs to the Nation, the People of Israel, not the State of Israel.
- To inform the people of Israel of the undemocratic, unJewish, and corrupt nature of Israel’s governing system.
- To promote an alternative system of government whose paramount principle is the Jewish essence of the State, to which all other principles are subordinate.
- Structure: The JNM Will
- Establish a national headquarters in Jerusalem to facilitate uninterrupted cooperation with IFG-USA and uninterrupted cooperation between non-parliamentary organizations in Israel.
- Appoint an executive committee to oversee operations.
- Recruit experts in various public and private sectors to formulate, in cooperation with IFG-USA, a comprehensive national program amenable to religious and nationalist oriented Jews.
- Establish a funding network in Israel that will allow each organization to function within the framework of the Movement, share its resources, minimize unnecessary duplication, and present to the world at large the voice of a United Israel.
- Establish branches around the country, especially near universities. (These branches will be the generators of a massive grassroots movement whose goal is to rally public support for a Constitutional Party.)
- Form a lecture bureau consisting of scholars, rabbis, and retired businessmen. (Urgently needed is bold Jewish education, using Jewish concepts to analyze the various ideas and political forces that fragment the Jewish People and endanger Israel’s well-being).
- Ensure the Jewish People everywhere access to information regarding Israel’s security and well-being by supporting a politically independent media network analogous to Voice of America or Radio Free Europe.
- Form action teams with specific objectives such as public relations, exposure of governmental ineptitude, fearless investigation and publication of names and activities of all enemies of the Jewish People—their resources, agents, networks, and affiliates regardless of their race, national origin, positions of power, and social or economic connections.
- Form standing committees equivalent to those of the IFG-USA—committees that parallel major government ministries. (The JNM should see itself as an incipient “shadow government.”)
- Establish an Institute of Statesmanship and Torah Philosophy to develop high caliber Jewish leadership that will inspire the Jewish People.
- Resolutions: The JNM
- Demands that the Government (a) abrogate Oslo; (b) destroy the Fatah/Hamas-led Palestinian Authority; (c) close down all Arab institutions and media that advocate incitement.
- Demands that the Government assert Israel’s sovereignty over the Temple Mount, Judea, Samaria, and Gaza (JSF).
- Calls on the Government to (a) pass a Land Act to settle 150,000 Jews in Jewish settlement of JSG in five years; (b) invite foreign capital to build model cities in these areas; (c) move certain ministries to these areas; (d) offer Arabs financial incentives to emigrate there from.
- In pursuance of the 1952 Citizenship Law, urges the Minister of Interior to revoke the citizenship of all Arabs who have committed acts of violence against the Jewish state.
- Demands enforcement of Basic Law: The Knesset, which bars any party that negates the Jewish character of the State.
- Demands that those Arab Knesset members who have committed acts of sedition or incitement be indicted, expelled from the Knesset, and deported.
- Advocates a market economy based on Jewish ethics to avoid the greed of capitalism and the egalitarian envy of socialism.
- Advocates a bi-cameral parliament. The upper branch, the Senate, will be limited to Jews and will have exclusive law-making powers. The lower branch, the House of Representatives, will exercise the power of administrative oversight (a power lacking in the present Knesset). Members of both branches will be individually accountable to the voters in regional elections. (For details, see the website of the Foundation for Constitutional Democracy: http.//www.foundation1.org/)
- Advocates a Presidential system to replace multi-party cabinet government which is inept, divisive, and incapable of pursuing coherent and resolute national policies. The Presidency and the heads of all executive offices will be limited to Jews.
- Advocates nomination of Supreme Court judges by the President (with the advice of a council learned in Jewish and secular law), subject to confirmation by the Senate.
- Insists that the Supreme Court adhere to the Foundations of Law Act 1980, such that Jewish law will be “first among equals” vis-à-vis other legal systems used by the judiciary.
- Advocates a law that would enable a private citizen who suffers injury from the act of any public official to sue the official for compensatory and punitive damages.
- Advocates legislation that (a) no citizen may be arrested without charge nor be imprisoned without trial longer than two weeks; (b) no person convicted of a felony may be released from jail prior to the termination of his sentence without the approval of a parole board consisting of qualified private
citizens. (This will preclude the release of terrorists.) - Insists that the IDF be depoliticized by legislation prohibiting high-ranking officers from holding any elective national office for five years after their discharge.
- Recognizes that, given the existence of weapons of mass destruction, a small state like Israel must pursue a policy of pre-emption.
- Demands that the terms “Judaism,” “Zionism,” and “Eretz Israel” be restored to the Soldiers Code of Ethics—terms deleted by the 1992-1995 Rabin-Peres government.
- Urges amendment of the “grandfather clause” of the Law of Return to curtail the influx of gentiles into Israel.
- Advocates enfranchisement of Israelis abroad for presidential elections in Israel.
- Demands that the government recall the Israeli ambasador from, and refrain from seeking diplomatic relations with, any state whose governmenmt fosters hatred of Jews.
- Demands that the government cease appeasing the U.S. This demeans Israel and Jews in the Diaspora and perpetuates Washington’s hypocritical friendship with Jerusalem. Acccordingly, Israel’s government must (a) demand the immediate release of its agent, Jonathan Pollard; (b) stop relying on the U.S. to play the role of the anything but “honest broker” in Israel-Arab affairs; (c) reveal U.S. dependence on Israeli Intelligence services, high-tech industries, and medical discoveries; (d) notify the U.S. that Israel will terminate in stages American military aid; (e) resume production of an Israeli fighter-aircraft by eliminating government waste and reducing taxes; (f) notify the U.S. to move its embassy to Jerusalem or have none at all.
The Alter of Kelm said, “Don’t ask whether a thing is possible; ask only if it is necessary.” Know that all that is deemed “pragmatic” only reflects today’s stagnant day mentality and merely preserves Israel’s existing SYSTEM. If you agree that IFG-USA is necessary to prevent Israel’s demise, you will surely join our organization. We look forward to working with you to preserve the heritage of the Jewish People and restore their national dignity.
To join IFG-USA and be added to our mailing list, contact Prof. Paul Eidelberg
