A
must-read by Evelyn Gordon that eloquently embellishes on a number of
IRIS points from 10 days ago:
Netanyahu has not only missed a golden opportunity to portray Likud as serious about fighting corruption; he has also cynically exploited a gross miscarriage of justice.
FEIGLIN UNDENIABLY broke laws during the civil disobedience campaign he waged to protest the Oslo Accords (which mainly involved blocking roads); that is the nature of civil disobedience. As such, he could legitimately have been charged with various misdemeanors, from demonstrating without a permit to disturbing the peace.
But there was never any justification for convicting him on the serious charge of sedition, whose dictionary definition is "incitement to rebellion against a government"; civil disobedience bears scant resemblance to armed rebellion. Even the courts appear to have dimly understood this, since despite the gravity of the charge, Feiglin received only a sixmonth jail sentence. But since a key element of democracy is the right to protest without facing trumped-up sedition charges, Netanyahu's exploitation of this unwarranted conviction to keep Feiglin off the Likud slate is inappropriate for someone who claims to champion democratic values....But the worst thing about Netanyahu's war on Feiglin is that it distracts attention from the truly important war - the one against Sharon. Feiglin is a triviality: His support level, as demonstrated in the Likud primary, would not even suffice to win him a single Knesset seat; thus however extreme his views, he is powerless to wreak harm. Sharon, in contrast, seems likely to be Israel's next prime minister. And in that position, he will have the power to do enormous harm, both to Israel's security and to its democratic norms.
See also:
Feiglin Willing to Drop Out of Race, in which Feiglin shows class by putting his ideals ahead of his personal ambitions.
