Israel's Moral Stance on Iran

By Moshe Feiglin
3 Tamuz, 5769 (June 25, '09)


"Israel does not interfere in Iran's internal affairs." That is more or less the reaction of Israeli officialdom to the unrest in Iran. Nobody questions this response. We have become accustomed to the fact that our response is not important. What does the oppression in China have to do with us? Why does the war in Chechnya concern us? Why is the slave trade in Sudan our business? And even more so, what does it matter what we think about Iran?

Every imbecile on the globe allows himself to interfere, express his opinion, create tension and propose himself as a negotiator in our small and troubled country. We roll out the red carpet for the British ambassador or for the French foreign minister when they land here and then run off to sympathize with our enemies in Ramallah and Gaza. We look on passively as the US ambassador interferes in the relationship between Israel and its Bedouin citizens in the Negev and the Arabs in the Galilee. It seems clear to us; they have the right to tell us what to do, but we do not have the right to tell them what to do.

Why? Because when we decided to found the state of the Jews on Christian values, on the laws of England, Turkey and Rome - we left our Jewish ethics by the wayside. What we essentially said to the entire world was that they are the moral compass; they decide who is ethical and just. In actuality, their interference in our affairs is our fault. The flip side of that coin is our feeling that we have no moral right to intervene in ethical issues in other countries.

The Jewish state that will be created on the foundation of Jewish ethics will be a state whose destiny is the ancient Jewish destiny "to perfect the world in the Kingdom of the Almighty." Judaism certainly has a universal message and as soon as we revolutionize our mentality, we will no longer see ourselves as grasshoppers. And then, the world will not see us as such. On the contrary, the world will expect to hear the opinion of the nation that testifies to the existence of G-d.