(Editor's note: There is, generally, a gap of three weeks between the writing of this magazine and its publication. Because of that, when these words are read two events will have already taken place. The elections for the Knesset will be over and the results already known. And the effort to have a groundbreaking ceremony for the first Jewish settlement in ancient Shchem since the Exile began, will have been made.)
At the moment of writing, however, neither event has taken place and I
do not know whether on May 18, after the two events have occurred, I
will sit in the Knesset or in an Israeli prison. What is clear, however, is that the two events are intrinsically bound, one to the other.
The trip to Shchem is part of the drive to – once and for all –
establish the principle of Torah law over contradictory secular law,
when the latter attempts to prevent Jews from obeying their obligation
to the former. It is part of
the drive – once and for all – to do away with the humiliation and
desecration of huge parts of the Land of Israel that are nominally under
Israeli control, but in fact dominated and arrogantly possessed by
Arabs. It is an effort to stop the Washington plan to force Israel into suicidal concessions and the Israeli preparation to give in to at least a large part of the American demands. It
is part of the hope that a tempest will be planted in the hearts of
enough Jews so that they will join the call to the Israeli government: We
will not allow you to give up the land and we will refuse to obey
orders to retreat if we are soldiers and join a campaign of civil
disobedience if we are civilians.
That is why I plan NOT to ask the government for permission to go to
Shchem, for no permission is needed for a Jew to go anywhere in his
country. That is why I plan to ignore the order barring me (sic) from the liberated lands that has been issued by the army. That
is why I plan to call upon the troops, if stopped, to refuse to violate
Jewish law by barring a Jew from the Land of Israel and to disobey the
illegal orders given them.
That is why I do not know where I will be listening to the Knesset election results. And as to what the people of Israel will do – who can say? There are many things I might not have said that would have gained me votes. But doing that would be turning into a politician and making the Knesset more important than the reason for wanting to be in it. The Knesset, for me, is nothing more than a forum, an opportunity to have my voice heard – and that is vital. But
the voice itself and what it says is even more vital and when one
begins to compromise and rationalize that compromise by thinking that
the end of entering the Knesset justifies the means of compromising –
then there is never an end
to the deceit. Then one does the same once he is in the Knesset so that he be re-elected or become a cabinet minister. No, the truth is not a thing you play with.
The truth has been said in this campaign: That the Jewish people is the
Chosen people of G-d and that “what will be” depends on their cleaving
to the concepts and the mtizvot of Torah; that the fundamental concept
is the faith and belief and trust in G-d that is measured in terms of
the difficult sacrifices and dangers embodied in such yardsticks as
rushing to the aid of a Jew, refusing to violate Torah by giving up
sacred Jewish land, refusing to place one’s trust in allies and
Washington, leaving the exile with its impurity and prohibition to live
there and coming home to the Jewish land, removing the specter of the
Arabs who, by their refusal to recognize the Jewish right to Israel,
desecrate the name of G-d.
The truth has been said and I have preached and practiced. That I will sit either in the Knesset or prison is clear. Which one, what will be – only the Jews of Israel can decide. By the time you read this they will have decided and you and I will both know.
MAPS
The pressure on Israel to withdraw totally from the liberated lands will mount with every passing week following the elections. The
demand will be that, in return for a spurious and nebulous “peace”
Israel accept a fraudulent and non-existent people and state known as
“Palestine”. It is important to know exactly what the map will look like in case such as state should ever come into being next to Israel.
Along the coastal strip, Arab guns and troops will be 22 kilometers
(some 15 miles) from Tel Aviv; 15 kilometers (11 miles) from Netanya; 14
kilometers at the narrowest point between Netanya and Herzeliya. They
will naturally be right next to Jerusalem which will return to being
the border and will return to 10 kilometers (some 6 miles) from
Beersheva and 8 kilometers (5 miles) from Afula.
Not a plane will get up into the air over the costal strip without
facing the withering fire of the SAM missiles that Arafat and his people
will set up all along the border. The
Israeli cities on the coastal plan (Tel Aviv, Holon, Bat Yam, Ramat
Gan, Benei Brak, Givatayim, Petach Tikva, Herzeliya, Netanya) will
become prey to ceaseless bombardment in any “war of attrition” begun by
the “Palestinians” and their Communist block, Cuban, Asian and African
allies they care to invite in as “volunteers.” One
who knows what happened to the Egyptian cities along the Canal during
the 1970 War of Attrition knows, too, exactly how Jewish cities may
look, G-d forbid, should the front lines be shifted from the Canal, the
Golan and the Jordan to the heartland of Israel.
The prohibition against giving up Jewish land will either be obeyed or not. We will either trust in G-d or in man. If we prove to be faithless Jews, divine punishment will come in its most natural form. We will suffer the natural consequences of our actions – the scenario I have described, above. “Not one inch” is more than a theological point. It is tragically practical.
By Rabbi Meir Kahane - What Will Be? - 1977
From "K A H A N E”
The magazine of the authentic Jewish Idea
May 1977 – Sivan 5737
From "K A H A N E”
The magazine of the authentic Jewish Idea
May 1977 – Sivan 5737
