Feiglin Defiant After Disqualification Petition Filed

Zehut party chairman Moshe Feiglin responded Tuesday evening to a petition filed seeking his disqualification from running in the upcoming Knesset elections. The petition was submitted by the Zulat Institute for Equality and Human Rights, together with former Defense Minister and IDF Chief of Staff Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon, former ministers Yael German and Omer Bar-Lev, Prof. Frances Raday, and diplomat Yoram Ben-Ze'ev.

"I read the mountains of words written in the petition to disqualify me from running for the Knesset, and I want to thank the petitioners: you have explained to the Israeli public exactly what these elections are about," Feiglin said.

According to the Zehut leader, the core dispute centers on a fundamental question of identity: "Who are we? Is the State of Israel the state of the Jewish people returning to its land from its long exile, or just another Western democracy that happened to arise in the Middle East and is becoming a 'state of all its citizens'? The left tried to settle this debate through the Oslo Accords, which led directly to the Simchat Torah disaster. Now, the architects of that approach are trying to complete the move by disqualifying their political opponent."

Zehut chairman Moshe Feiglin in an interview on the Iron Dome program (Srugim Studios)

"I have news for Bogie Ya'alon, for Yael German, for Omer Bar-Lev and for the rest of the petitioners: I am not retracting any of my positions," Feiglin declared. "They are seeking to disqualify me because I dare to state the foundational principles: the State of Israel was established as the nation-state of the Jewish people, and that is its founding ethos."

Feiglin clarified:

"The proper and correct system of government for Israel is indeed democracy, but it is not a substitute for Jewish identity, rather, it is a governing tool of the Jewish sovereign. There is a clear distinction between basic human rights, which are granted to every person as a human being, and national and civil rights that are reserved for the Jewish people in its land.

After October 7th, I refuse to fall in line with the silencing and continue to demand a decision: conquest, expulsion, settlement and victory. The group of petitioners are the heralds of the conception that brought disaster upon us. For years their members sat in the security and political establishment, preaching inclusion, conflict management and buying quiet. We warned and they mocked.

These same people supported the thuggery campaign of 2023, which included trampling state laws, contempt for democratic decision-making, dismantling the IDF and creating social chaos on the verge of civil war. They have nothing whatsoever to do with democracy; the use of that term is meant to erode the Jewish identity of the state.

When open terror supporters sat in the Israeli Knesset, the petitioners' alarm for 'democracy' fell silent. Only when Moshe Feiglin demands to defeat the enemy and place Jewish identity at the center --- suddenly the fear of the voter's decision awakens. Our attitude toward institutions and courts: the Supreme Court has revealed itself as an outright political tribunal, and I am not seeking ideological approval from it.

As far as I'm concerned, the decision of the Central Elections Committee will be final: if the committee disqualifies my candidacy, I will not appeal and will not turn to the Supreme Court for relief. I will not ask permission from a political tribunal to serve my people. If my candidacy is approved and the petitioners drag me to the High Court, I will appear to defend the public's right to choose, my positions and the truth."

In conclusion, Feiglin said that "to ensure Israel's future and prevent the erosion of its identity, the first law that the Zehut party will place on the table of the next Knesset will be a formal amendment to the name of the state: 'Israel - State of the Jewish People.' The struggle is not about Moshe Feiglin the man, the struggle is over the right of the Jewish majority to determine its fate against a minority that fears the people's decision at the ballot box."