Remember Platforms? (No, no, not the shoes!)

In a country where mudslinging has been made into a fine art, it is hard to get a clear idea of where the candidates stand on the issues, mainly because the reporters, mindful of their ratings, would rather report on the insults flying back and forth.

The primary race for the Likud has not been an exception, and it is a real shame. The platform that Moshe Feiglin and the others in Manhigut Yehudit - the Jewish Leadership Faction, have put together is clear and straightforward and would attract a lot of Israeli voters to the Likud if it would receive the publicity it deserves.

Those surfing Ynet recently on their Current Events Forum forwarded questions to Moshe Feiglin, which he answered concisely. The interest generated by him was so great that the moderator had to apologize to the many people posting questions which could not be answered.

Below are some of the main points of the Manhigut platform, (more specific details here), and some of the questions and answers given on the Ynet forum.

Family - Strengthening the traditional family structure through legislation and tax benefits.

Education - A comprehensive curriculum that includes a daily hour of Jewish heritage, Jewish history and Jewish identity for every Jewish child.

Security - Reversing Oslo and the Road Map. Declaring sovereignty over all areas of the Land of Israel that are in our hands.

Justice - Electoral reform to ensure that the Supreme Court justices are elected by representatives of the people and reflect their values.

Some question asked on the Current Events Forum on Ynet

Q. As a secular Israeli, why should I vote for a religious Jew?

A. Moshe Feiglin: The truth is that the concepts of "religious" and "secular" are no longer relevant, and I only use the term as a last resort. I do not define myself as "religious" and Judaism is not a religion.

I think you should vote for a believing Jew to lead our country, and that if you don't, our country will continue to disintegrate - no matter how good the intentions of whatever other leader is chosen. Without a perspective of faith in G-d, it is impossible to face the challenges of Israeli reality. Without faith, there is no real answer to the simple question of what we are doing here and why shouldn't we move to Uganda or New Zealand?

I am not asking you to change your lifestyle, I am simply offerring you leadership services of a different kind - leadership that is grounded in 4,000 years of history and not just in the past 50 years. I am offering leadership with vision and the courage to make our vision reality.

Q. As a Likud voter, I would like to know what is your security strategy?

A. Moshe Feiglin: My security platform is based first and foremost on the justice of our cause. As soon as we lost our feeling of justice, we brought terror and additional security threats upon ourselves. Once, my reserve army unit was able to keep order in all of Shechem (Nablus - ed.). Today, all of the elite units put together cannot do do, because we do not believe that we are right.

I believe that true Jewish leadership can significantly reduce the amount of forces needed for security because we will once again make our enemies feel threatened.

Israel's security policy must be aggressive (as when Begin attacked the Iraqi nuclear reactor), and not a policy of defensive walls, separation fences, bullet-proof vehicles and Arrow missiles.

We must strive for a standing army that is strictly voluntary. If something is threatening our country, we must attack and not relay on existential dangers to the coming generations because we feared to deal with them.

For more questions and answers click here.