By Yair Ettinger
Last update - 15:09 10/12/2008
Courtesy Of Haaretz Newspaper
An extreme right-wing text by Likud member Moshe Feiglin disappeared on Tuesday from the Web site of his Jewish Leadership movement. In the piece written five years ago, Feiglin says Israel should cut off water and electricity service to the Palestinian territories, withdraw from the United Nations and boycott the Olympics.
The text, written by the man who captured 20th place on Likud's Knesset list on Tuesday, is called "the day after" and details the radical policies he would pursue if he became prime minister. The manifesto was removed hours after the party's primary results were announced. Haaretz, however, obtained a copy.
In the piece, Feiglin wrote that his first action after becoming prime minister would be to summon his government to give thanks in prayer on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, an extremely sensitive site holy to both Jews and Muslims.
Over the next 100 days he would announce Israel's withdrawal from the United Nations, the closing of its embassies "in Germany and other anti-Semitic countries" and the rescheduling of the school year along the lines of the Hebrew calendar. This would be the first step toward having "the Jewish state's pulse beat according to the Jewish clock instead of the Christian one."
Feiglin wrote that he would then address the Palestinian issue by ordering "the complete cessation" of funds, goods, water, electricity and communication to the Palestinian Authority. Any attack on an Israeli target would incur "the conquest of the area whose residents instigated the violence, their deportation and destruction of the area's infrastructure."
At the same time, the defense budget would be cut by 30 percent by retiring all non-lethal anti-protest ammunition such as rubber-tipped bullets and tear gas. Instead, security forces would use live bullets against Palestinian protesters.
"The [non-lethal] ammunition aimed at preventing enemy casualties, which goes against the army's essence, will be destroyed in mandatory ceremonies held at every base," Feiglin wrote.
In the paper, he vociferously rejects the Palestinians' right to a state and argues that they do not exist as a distinct nationality separate from the Arabs.
"There is no Palestinian people, nor has there ever been, and there never will be a Palestinian state," Feiglin wrote. "We shall offer them human rights without civil rights, so long as they prove their loyalty to their Jewish state host and accept Jewish sovereignty over their land. In such a situation they will be given legal-resident status and they can carry on their private affairs without anyone infringing on their human rights."
He adds: "They will have to seek the right to self-determination in Arab states. Israel will encourage the Arabs to emigrate to their countries and assist any Arab who wishes to do so as much as it can."
Vanishing Act
The Web site of the Jewish Leadership movement went down for a few hours on Tuesday and was replaced with an announcement.
"Dear friends (and rivals!)," the announcement read. "Our heartfelt congratulations on the sweeping victory, the victory of the people of Zion, the victory of the eternity of Israel. Due to the new circumstances and our new agenda, which to this day we dared not even dream about, we have to upgrade our Web site."
The message was later replaced with a simpler one: "The Web site is under construction. It will be up again in a few days."
By Tuesday evening the site was up again but Feiglin's manifesto had been removed. Feiglin, who was convicted and jailed for incitement against the State of Israel in 1997, joined Likud with around 6,000 supporters in 2001 to influence government policy from within the party. Since then he has promoted a radical right-wing agenda.
In the past, the support of Feiglin's well-organized and influential camp has been sought after by many politicians in the party. At one point, Feiglin even backed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert when he was a member of Likud.
In the run-up to Likud's primary election held earlier this week, party chief Benjamin Netanyahu warned that any candidate who sought Feiglin's support would not be given a ministerial portfolio. He also initiated a number of measures aimed at increasing voter turnout, which he hoped would diminish Feiglin's influence in the election.
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