In order to support, defend, and (above all) maintain a free and independent state, based upon the civil society with economic and social liberty, you must first be willing to defend it from all hostile foes, foreign and domestic. It means that you have to be patriotic, that you in fact love your country and reject those who seek its destruction.
There are many issues on which I both agree, and disagree with Moshe Feiglin, but I can’t think of any other politician in the current crop of Israeli politicos that I would agree with more, than Feiglin. Like him or loathe him (I like him), the man has clarity of thought and is extremely articulate in presenting his position(s).
NOTE: Here is something to ponder: Where is it written that a nation is doomed to pander to an enclave of a highly hostile terrorists seeking its destruction?
H/T: Dennis Mitzner:
Can Moshe Feiglin Reconcile Libertarianism With Militant Israeli Nationalism?
The deputy speaker of the Knesset takes a hard line on individual freedom—and Gaza.
A member of the governing Likud party and a long-time rival of its chairman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Moshe Feiglin currently serves as the Knesset’s (Israeli parliament) deputy speaker. An advocate of personal liberty and self-identified libertarian on domestic policy, he’s also a hawk who makes headlines with his hard-line stance toward Palestinians.
Feiglin has been vocal supporter of Israel’s current military operation in Gaza and recently advocated turning Gaza into a new Yafo, a peaceful enclave in the southern part of Tel Aviv, largely inhabited by Israeli Arabs.
“There are two factors,” Feiglin tells me about the conflict in Gaza. “Historically, Gaza has always part of Israel. There’s no difference between Gaza and Yafo, for example, except that Yafo was recaptured in 1948. The whole discussion should be about rightness, not about occupation. Gaza belongs to the Jews.”
In an open letter to PM Netanyahu, Feiglin argued for the killing of Hamas fighters and their supporters. Following the operation, hostile Palestinian families would be deported to a number of countries, first passing through tent encampments near the border with Egypt. After the operation Gaza would become a “flourishing Israeli city with a minimum of hostile residents,” Feiglin wrote.
Feiglin’s solution sparked outrage in Israel and abroad. In response, Feiglin told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he’s not advocating for genocide, but for removal. Feiglin’s views seem to be rooted in the idea that to plant the seeds of a liberal order you must remove Hamas and those who fight Israel and bank on those who accept Israel’s presence.
Whether this is feasible morally or operationally is another matter.
Controversial and unique
