Ashamed of being a Feiglin

NECHEMIA MEYERS

Members of the Feiglin family in various parts of Israel are thinking of changing their family name to something else. This is because the followers of their cousin, right-wing Orthodox luminary Moshe Feiglin, have been dubbed "the Feiglinim." As a result, anyone bearing the Feiglin name is suspected of being a a right-wing fanatic, and must make a strenuous effort to prove his innocence of that charge.

In fact, family members have diverse political attitudes, from right to left. And while some are religious like Moshe, others seldom enter a synagogue. But the general public is unaware of these facts. The name Feiglin immediately sets off an alarm in the minds of people they meet. Perhaps, in the future, this may be less likely, as left-wing Feiglins were recently quoted by the press to the effect that they are not followers of Moshe.

Even those contemplating the possibility of henceforth being known as Mr. Bernstein or Ms. Jacobs admit that Moshe is a talented young man who has remarkable achievements to his credit in the political sphere since he first made a public splash in 1995. In that year he co-founded Zo Artzeinu (This is our Land) to protest the Oslo Agreements. Members of Zo Artzeinu blocked the Jerusalem-Tel-Aviv highway and other major roads, causing an uproar. Moshe himself was subsequently tried for sedition and sentenced to a term of community service.

No one had heard of him beforehand, but since then he has seldom been out of the news. His vehicle for changing Israeli society is a group called Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership), which strives to "lead the state of Israel through authentic Jewish values."

Feiglin's movement, among other things, is opposed to any withdrawal from the territories acquired in the Six Day War and aims to solve Israel's demographic problems by transferring Palestinian Arabs to Jordan, a plan previously endorsed by the late Meir Kahane and the Moledet party.

Feiglin, who hopes eventually to become prime minister, some years ago decided that he could only reach the top if he and his followers took over a major right-wing party, and so they all became members of the Likud. His faction in the Likud, regularly denounced by the party's established leadership, has done rather well. This was evident when he won 12.5 per cent of the vote when he ran for Likud chairman last month.

Feiglin is very media-savvy, as is evident from the fact that he has nearly 50,000 entries in his Google file. Many are from overseas publications, which regularly quote him because he very adept at fashioning English-language sound bites. Though he is a Sabra, born and educated in Israel, his mother is from the large Australian branch of the Feiglin family and English was sometimes spoken in his home.

One of the latest items in his Google file concerns his reaction to the stroke suffered by the prime minister. I hope that Sharon will live a long and healthy life, Feiglin said. But, he added with special emphasis, it shouldn't be as the leader of Israel. It isn't too hard to guess who he thinks should be the leader of the country.

Nechemia Meyers is a freelance writer living in Rehovot, Israel.

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