“I’m going to be the next Prime Minister of Israel.”

David F. Nesenoff: Foremost on our minds is the killing of the members of the Fogel family. What is the message we take away from that?

Moshe Feiglin: When I came back from the funeral to my car and realized that the whole funeral was broadcast live on the second largest station in Israel, I felt that something dramatic has changed in the Israeli society. There’s a famous reporter in the Maariv, a leftist reporter, who wrote the day after, now he realizes that there is no peace process and there will be no peace. And he said that therefore he has the feeling he has to hide under the skirt of Daniella Weiss [a noted settlement activist], that’s the way he wrote it.

DFN: So the game has changed?

MF: The conscience of the Israeli society is beginning to change and they realize there is no peace process. And therefore they feel they need to get closer to the settlers as they might have the right ideas as to how to function in the land of Israel.

DFN: What is the relation with your Manhigut Yehudit and the Likud party? I often think of Manhigut as the Tea Party to the Republican Party. Is there a correlation like that?

MF: Yes, a little bit. We are all members of Likud. But we are offering a different kind of leadership for the Likud. Leadership that comes from the Jewish leadership point of view, not just right wing or security, but Judaism.

DFN: When it comes to Judaism, do secular values and Jewish values need to be reconciled?

MF: Let’s face it. We have to admit it. The basic Zionist concept is let’s be a nation like all the nations. That’s not what Judaism is about. We are looking to, on the one hand, combine with what the amazing Zionist revolution did… basing ourselves on what Zionism built, the State of Israel, and pour into it the right kind of spirit. Because without having the right goals, the State of Israel is crumbling down. You can be the strongest state in the world, have the strongest army, have the best hi-tech, very strong economy… and still get into a self-destruct mechanism when we don’t have the right ideas to justify our existence in the land of Israel. And this is what Manhigut brings to the picture.

DFN: If you were Prime Minister, what kind of changes would we see happen?

MF: Instead of running after our enemies all the time, offering them pieces of our land, fighting them and winning the wars we have with them… instead of looking to establish a Palestinian State… Look to establish a Jewish State. If we are doing everything we can do to convince ourselves and the world, that besides speaking Hebrew, we are not really a Jewish State, then what do you want from the world? After 60 years the world got convinced that if you don’t want to be a Jewish State then why should you be recognized as one?

DFN: What would make Israel more of a Jewish State?

MF: If we will live our life, try to live our national life in Israel, as much as we can, according to Jewish values and not according to the left politically correct values we see on TV or the last movie that came from America or Europe… if we’ll make peace with ourselves with our own identity or with who we are, we’ll be able to call it a Jewish State. Basically if we’ll try to do what G-d is expecting from us, we can call it a Jewish State.

DFN: How do the Mesorati, Conservative, and Reform movements fit into the future of Israel?

MF: They are not so dominant in Israel. In Israel, there are seculars, religious and traditionalists. The Reform and Conservatives are very minor. History shows that they were anti-Zionists from the very beginning and they said “Berlin is Jerusalem,” so what do they look now in Israel for?

DFN: Sarah Palin is now in Israel, Mike Huckabee just returned from Israel, it seems that people who are looking to take leadership in the United States are making their way to Israel. But Obama, as President, has not visited the State of Israel yet.

MF: I’m not eager for him to come, to tell you the truth. With all due respect to Obama and all the American leaders, and I really do have respect to some of the American values and what America did in history, and the part America took in history… The problems that Israel has to deal with, it has to deal with by itself. I don’t see these visits as important as maybe others do.

DFN: Do the changes going on in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya have an effect on the people and State of Israel?

MF: A tremendous effect. What we call the peace process appears as a big false. Dictators like Mubarak and others that helped Israel make an illusion of peace, and finally now the Israelis see that the people of these nations never had peace with them. The real masses never wanted peace, never had peace. Once Mubarack moved aside, the gas, which came from Egypt and fed the electric industry in Israel, stopped. The Minister of Justice in Jordan called to release the murderer of the six Beit Shemesh girls. So suddenly you see, that when the people talk, and not just the dictators because of their own interests, there’s no real peace. We are standing in front of a big shift, a historically shift, and the conscience of Oslo is moving aside, it’s fading away. And a new conscience is coming in and only Manhigut Yehudit will be a relevant leadership for Israel.

DFN: What message do you want to give to someone sitting in the their house in Cedarhurst?

MF: A. Pack up and come to Israel and B. Help as much as you can the Manhigut Yehudit to take over the leadership of Israel, as fast as can be, so the State of Israel will be able to deal with the challenges it has as a real proud Jewish state in front of a new face of the world today.

DFN: What should we expect out of the future of Israel?

MF: Physically Israel is very strong. Economically it’s very strong and it’s going to be even stronger. I believe that Israel is going to be the richest country in the world. It’s on the way towards that direction. I think there is no future economy of the west besides Israel. So technically and physically militarily we are at the best point we could dream of. Now it’s the time to give it a direction. And when you talk about direction, you talk about leadership, because a leader is like the one who sits behind the wheel. And if we want the State of Israel to be a Jewish State, to go in the right direction, we have the best opportunity, the best vehicle, physical vehicle, and now what we need is the right driver to steer it.

DFN: Do you think the public’s perception of you is becoming more mainstream and accepting?

MF: Yes. I can definitely feel it. Likud is a major party in Israel; people in the street are talking to me. Last primary I got almost a quarter of the votes. So I guess we are on the right direction.

DFN: Finally, I know the demand for the release of Jonathan Pollard is close to your heart.

MF: Pollard is in jail only because he’s Jewish, only because he did what he did for Israel. There’s no doubt about it. Any American president, who says that he is a friend of Israel and doesn’t release Jonathan Pollard, says one thing and proves the other.