Likud Convention Opens With Five Motions by Jewish Leadership Including Resolution on Jonathan Pollard

Arutz7 News - October 23, 2002

The Likud Party convention will open in Jerusalem tonight with a newly reconstituted Central Committee. Over half of the some 2,600 delegates were recently elected for the first time - including 125 delegates from the Jewish Leadership movement headed by Moshe Feiglin. Feiglin was asked by Arutz-7 today whether it's Sharon or Netanyahu who has the majority in the new Committee. "It's hard to speak of a balance of power in the Central Committee," he answered, "because the elections were really on a geographical basis. But the general feeling is that the Committee tends to Netanyahu."

Feiglin is proud of his movement's strong showing in the recent elections: "We have 125 delegates who are united and who work together, and this is considered an important asset - we received many compliments for this achievement. Many of the other groups are not unified, or don't always show up, etc." Feiglin, who plans to run for party leader against Sharon and Netanyahu, said, "One of the sides conducted a poll and, though I did not learn the exact numbers, I was told that it showed very impressive support for me. The survey conductor was quite impressed that my showing was not just individual percentage points."

The Jewish Leadership group will not field a candidate for the position of party chairman. Instead, the race will be between MK Yisrael Katz (a Netanyahu supporter) and Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert (Sharon). "We have made it clear," Feiglin said, "that we will support whichever candidate supports certain revolutionary motions that we wish to raise - motions that deal with Israel's Jewish identity, with Jonathan Pollard, with solving issues of economy and security, and with restoring national honor."

The five motions that the Jewish Leadership movement plans to submit at the convention include the following:

  1. The Likud charter currently calls for "persistence in settling and developing all parts of the Land of Israel, and annexing them." The motion calls to add these words: "actualization of our sovereignty on the Temple Mount and speeding up settlement efforts in Yesha."

  2. The Oslo War must be won in the shortest possible time, and we call upon the Prime Minister to:
    • annex all of Yesha;
    • nullify the Oslo Accords and kill the murderers and those who send them, including Arafat;
    • implement wartime practices with the Palestinian enemy, including preventing all trade, aid, and supplies to the enemy until they give up all their weapons, turn over all the terrorists among them, and accept Israel's sovereignty on its homeland;
    • legislate into law an "Autonomy Law" regulating the status of locations in Israel populated by non-citizens;
    • provide aid to Arabs of Yesha who wish to escape the tragedy brought upon them by their terrorist leadership and begin new lives somewhere else.

  3. We call upon the Prime Minister and his government to legislate laws stipulating that the appointment of judges and officials of the law enforcement, public service, and other agencies in which public policy is set, be carried out democratically and openly before the public, and require the approval of the Knesset.

  4. We call for drastic cuts in public spending, a gradual end to American financial aid, an end to foreign labor, a 50% cut in Knesset and government salaries, and other economic measures.

  5. We wish to "strengthen the hands" of Jonathan Pollard, and call upon the government to act firmly to bring about his release and take all measures - including military - to bring about the release of IDF prisoners, and call to ban all Likud MKs except for the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister from setting foot on American soil until Pollard is freed.