Feiglin says supporters should not be afraid to vote for an underdog ahead of effort to unseat Netanyahu as Likud chairman.
By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMANMoshe Feiglin 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Likud activist Moshe Feiglin urged his supporters on Tuesday night to not be daunted by the challenge ahead in his effort to unseat Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as Likud chairman in January 31’s primary.Speaking at a rally for hundreds of his followers at Jerusalem’s Ramada Renaissance Hotel, Feiglin said he wanted his supporters to not be afraid to vote for an underdog, just as he wanted the government to not be afraid to do what a Jewish government should do.RELATED:Yanai next hot political commodityUnknown joins Likud leadership raceIn a room full of banners bearing the slogan “believers do not fear,” Feiglin gave a long list of steps that “believers” should not be afraid to take. The list included keeping the entire Land of Israel, building throughout the Land, expelling enemies and infiltrators, and going up to the Temple Mount and sacrificing the Paschal Lamb.Feiglin said a prime minister who was a believer would not appoint Ehud Barak as defense minister or send IDF soldiers aboard the Mavi Marmara with toy guns.The one item on the list of steps a believer should take that earned Feiglin a standing ovation, was “demanding that Obama release Jonathan Pollard.”
Reports that Netanyahu intended to reserve slots on the Likud list for Barak and his allies also featured prominently in campaign ads broadcast at the event.Spoofing commercials for an insurance company, the ads featured a caller to the company asking which candidate could guarantee that a Likud defense minister be appointed, that Israel remain united, and that “Meretz representatives on the Supreme Court” be prevented from taking over the country.When Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch’s face came on the screen in the commercial, the crowd booed.The activists in the crowd were given orders for persuading Likud members to come out to vote for Feiglin, including talking points about his ideology. People in the crowd who are not Likud members were urged to volunteer to serve as polling station monitors and election board officials.
Feiglin’s fund-raiser, Shmuel Sackett, told the crowd that he learned how to raise money from the Obama campaign.He said the rapid changes in the leader board in the Republican primary gave him home in the Likud race.“If Ron Paul can go from 8 percent to the top, so can we,” Sackett said. “We do have a chance. We have 10,000 backers in Likud. If all of them bring two people, we will definitely win.”
