IDF: Defender of the Jewish People, or Defender of the Regime?

Moshe Feiglin, Head of Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership), checks in with his assessment of the State of the IDF;

The IDF: An Uncomfortable Analysis

Excerpts;

“The IDF is part of our culture and national ethos. But the time has come to examine its objective status, the role that it is playing today in the State of Israel and the Gordian knot between it and the belief-based public. Our future depends on our ability to honestly assess our situation. Incorrect analysis will turn the naive, belief based public into the major tool for the destruction of Israel.”

“Israel is being led by a small oligarchy that doesn’t believe in the justness of its cause. It has nothing worth dying for and nothing worth living for — except itself. This oligarchy will always prefer to preserve itself in the short run at the expense of the very existence of the state in the long run. It sees itself as the Founder of the state and the Creator of a new nation — the Israeli nation — to replace the outdated Jewish nation of the exile. As French philosopher John Jacque Rousseau explained — the oligarchies see the state and its citizens as their private property. As long as the state supplies the oligarchy with the ability to rule and the appropriate cultural environment, it has the right to exist. It is just and fitting to take existential risks in order to preserve the rule of the oligarchy and its values. The leadership is not meant to serve the state, but rather, the state must serve the leadership.”

“Lieutenant Colonel Shlomo Baum, of blessed memory, once told me, ‘Shimon Peres doesn’t care if the entire state turns into a heap of ashes — as long as he is standing at the top of the heap.’ At the time, I thought that he was exaggerating. Today I know that this is true not only of Peres, but of the entire oligarchy that controls the State of Israel. This oligarchy is the strategic threat to the state.”

“What is the Strategic Mission of the Army?”

“Once again, the answer seems simple. The IDF is the Israel Defense Forces. The strategic mission of the army is to defend the state of Israel. But a simple inspection of our reality since Oslo reveals a totally different picture. The IDF’s top commanders do not concern themselves with defending Israel, but rather with defending the ruling oligarchy. They do not see their main goal as providing security for Israel, but rather as carrying out the orders of the oligarchy.“