Moshe Feiglin
Moshe FeiglinFlash 90

There are few things on which right-wingers such as Baruch Marzel and left-wingers such as Amir Peretz and Ofer Shelaha agree, but one of those things is the early release of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Politicians and pundits from across the political spectrum have voiced their support for the decision of the parole board to grant Olmert's request for an early release. Olmert will walk free this coming Sunday following today's decision.

There are those, however, who oppose the shortening of the former prime minister's seven year sentence for corruption, including Zehut party chairman Moshe Feiglin.

Feiglin addressed the call by Baruch Marzel to send Olmert home over his health issues.

Marzel had called the opposition to Olmert's release "inhumane and un-Jewish." He also said that the "Jewish heart" requires letting Olmert go free.

"Whose Jewish heart?" Feiglin asked in an interview with Arutz Sheva today. "[The hearts of] the close to two hundred families - both in the army and among civilians, whose loved ones gave their lives for that cynical political ploy which was the Second Lebanon War?"

"After all, this man went to war, and according to his testimony in the media, he hoped to bring a tailwind to the [Kadima government]. He sent soldiers from Ofra and Beit El to fight a fake war whose sole purpose was to legitimize the cleansing and expulsion [of the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria]. He has caused the people of Israel to clash with each other at the incidents at Amona. All of this goes beyond corruption.

Feiglin added, "If Olmert is supposed to be released after a third [of his sentence], then [former President Moshe] Katsav should have been released long ago, but the justice system is more attentive to the pressures of feminist organizations."

ArutzSheva asked Feiglin if the reasons he gave for opposing Olmert's release are not irrelevant as they have no legal standing. Under Israeli democracy leaders cannot be brought to trial for political motives.

Feiglin replied that the question was about Marzel's assertion that the 'compassionate "Jewish heart" required letting Olmert go home. "Olmert is the cruelest of politicians."

"From the legal point of view, it is clear to everyone that if we focus on the issue of corruption, what message does such a decision, which receives so much praise in the public sphere, [create]? This man is the father of corruption, and he set unbelievably [high] standards in the field of corruption. The testimonies that I myself have heard from private individuals show that there is no pardoning this man.

Feiglin did have one good thing to say about the former prime minister. He praised the decision to bomb the nuclear reactor in Syria in 2007, even going so far as to say that Binyamin Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister, could learn from the courage and determination the decision to carry out the strike entailed. "The prime minister's job is to bring security."