(Hanoch Daum Ynet).The manner in which Likud officials are dealing with the Feiglin mess is not perfect, to say the least, but make no mistake about it: The victory that we saw Thursday against Moshe Feiglin is everyone's triumph, not only Benjamin Netanyahu's win.
It doesn’t matter who you intend to vote for in the upcoming general elections, the decision to bump Feiglin down to the 36th spot on the Likud Knesset list is an important achievement in national terms. The arguments for doing it are logical, yet the way it was done was twisted.
Feiglin jeopardized not only Likud, but the entire Israeli party-based democratic system. Had his sly scheme to take over Likud worked as planned, we would see many people in other parties trying to imitate him.
We need to understand something: Moshe Feiglin has been attempting to enter the Knesset for 15 years now. We are dealing with a person backed by a movement that knows it has no chance to get the people's vote of confidence should it offer its dangerous merchandize to the public. So instead, it attached itself to another movement, Likud, and through it is making a name for itself.
Feiglin sought to use the Likud as a major platform for his peculiar views, such as the need to kick Arabs from Temple Mount or to rebuild Gush Katif. He should have been disqualified in a somewhat more proper and transparent manner.
However, more importantly, his stinging ultimate defeat brings hope back to anyone who cares about politics. It keeps hope alive for anyone who believes that our political parties are still the authentic representatives of the will of the people, and not some sort of tool at the service of foreign millionaires who make use of stubborn figures with baseless views as part of a master plan to implement their delusional ideas in Israel.
