Tim Boxer On Moshe Feiglin

It took 16 years for Moshe Feiglin to finally win a coveted seat in the Knesset last month. No sooner did he settle down in his newly won seat that he announced he’s going to boycott the Knesset during President Barack Obama’s visit this month.

Feiglin, founding president of the right-wing religious Manhigut Yehudit faction within the reigning Likud party, flew here for a one-day victory celebration Monday in Queens.

Feiglin noted that Pollard has been incarcerated for 28 years for passing intelligence to Israel. “The only one who has the key to release him is the president,” Feiglin said. “I pray he will bring Pollard with him. If not, he will speak to my empty chair. And it is my hope that my chair will not be the only empty chair.”

About 200 of his most ardent supporters cheered his “empty chair” declaration at the Chateau Steakhouse in Fresh Meadows, Queens, on Monday. Among them were singer Ira Heller, Helen Freedman of Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI), Dr. Joseph Frager, Dr. Paul Brody, Rabbi David Algaze, attorney Robert Unger, radio personality Nachum Segal, Jay Taylor, blogger Bernie Quigley, and Manhigut Yehudit co-founder Shmuel Sackett.

Although Feiglin maintains he’s in the Knesset to help Likud leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, he has his sights firmly on the ultimate prize: the prime minister’s chair.

He sees a trend among a new generation in the country that is talking Jewish identity over Israeli identity. “People in Israel are talking the language of Manhigut Yehudit. They are talking less about settlements and peace accords, and more about who we are and how we should live. We are not coming from 100 years of Zionism but 4,000 years of Judaism.

“It’s happening. It has the smell of a Jewish revolution. But it does not have the Manhigut Yehudit direction yet. When it comes, we will be ready to take over the country.”