This is an old article which I translated from the Hebrew:
The following is an interview she gave to the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv in 2002 :
Feature: Excerpts from Maariv interview with Elisheva Federman
Elisheva Federman wife of Kach leader Noam Federman is being interviewed by Maariv journalist Sarit Fuchs. At first Elisheva refused to be interviewed, but with the approval of Noam she agreed to meet Sarit and discuss her views in general and on the latest events in Israel especially regarding the incident where Elisheva and her infant son narrowly escaped a bomb that was planted in her car.
Did you ever get to know a "Palestenian" woman, did you ever feel compassion for the widowed and bereaved among them?
Elisheva: No, I have mercy on Jewish mothers. My heart is full of compassion for all the Jewish mothers who have lost their sons, daughters, husbands, and parents.
Do you know that (former Jewish underground member) Yehuda Etzion and (Hebron spokesman) Noam Arnon condemned the revenge attack in Idna, what's your opinion?
Elisheva: I heard about it but no, no I do not condemn it. Listen there is so much pain and hurt in my heart for all the friends that I have lost and all the funerals that I attended. There is no room to feel mercy for the enemy. It isn't possible that in our country the Arabs walk around fearless while we have to sneak around like mice hiding in a hole in armored cars and bulletproof vests. This is not normal this is Eretz Yisrael, not exile.
-Has it occurred to you that they don't think it (Israel) belongs to you?
"Our biggest problem is not the Arabs but the Jews. If we are strong enough in our faith that this is ours and there is no other place for us on earth. Which nation would be ready to give away a piece of its own house?"
-Do you believe that the condemnations of Etzioni and Arnon were genuine or hypocritical?
"I think it's hypocritical. People condemned on TV and then went home to rejoice over what has happened."
-One of them said that the killings will only serve to further the public from them and cause damage. Maybe this is the reason for their condemnation, fear of losing support?
"I think that the truth does not scare away or distance the public. The public will distance itself from individuals who say one thing and mean another. I only say things that I truly believe in."
-Do you believe in revenge?
"Yes I do believe. I named one of my sons Elkana (G-d of vengeance). Of course in a normal ideal life we would not have to take revenge. Certainly I would have preferred a quiet life with my family, trips, restaurants, vacations on weekends. But when the cheapest blood in the Middle East is Jewish blood I think there is room for revenge."
-Then do you support the formation of an underground?
"I think it should be above ground and in the open. Unfortunately it has to be that way. If an underground does arise I won't feel bad about it. In my opinion the time has come for all the people in the settlements, all the good people who serve in the reserves, people who know how to fight to go out on the roads and start to fight. Noam always says and I agree with him that we have no problem that the IDF, which is enslaved to the government's policy of "restraint", withdraw from Yesha. They should transfer to us all the weapons and we will take care of ourselves. This is not an underground, this would be open. "
-And if they don't let you fight in the open?
"I've heard that people have already begun to do something, could be that there will be an underground."
-If the settlers will form a militia then you are inviting death to your doorstep.
"What are you saying? We already have death at our doorstep. Just this week a bullet penetrated the children's room, missed my 2 and a half-year-olds' head and landed on the rug. We go through this every day".
-And if something will happen G-d forbid...
" I don't want to lose my life. But of course anything can happen. I am not a foolish woman but I think long term and I know that the minute I pack my bags and run there won't be a place anywhere in the world where I'll be able to say: Here I'll be safe. And not in America either. If Jews won't be safe in Israel they won't be safe in America if they will be seen as a weak and pitiful nation...
- Is that how you think we are viewed
" Slowly -slowly yes. Anti-Semitism is strengthened around the world when we are not strong and firm enough at home. When are you showing weakness and a Galut mentality then you are asking for it"
-How did you feel when your car suddenly exploded (refering to the explosion in Federmans' car minutes after Elisheva and her infant son left the vehicle to see a doctor in a Kiryat Arba clinic.)
" I felt a great sense of gratitude to G-d, and I felt that G-d was keeping an eye on me, personally guarding me".
- But why you were chosen to be saved? Are you such a righteous person?
" No, Thank G-d there are many people "
-But there are those who weren't chosen to be saved.
" So maybe they are more worthy than me. G-d wants them up there with him. I believe that every person is guided by divine providence; we just have to realize it. This is how life is for us in Chevron and I have gone through a lot in the last 10 month.
"I was unfortunately a witness to the murder of 10 month old baby Shalhevet Pass. Bullets entered my house and my car was shot at. Twice we were caught in the crossfire as the Arabs shot at us. My eldest daughters teacher, Rina Didovsky HY"D was murdered on the way to school. Binyamin and Talia Kahane who were murdered HY"D were close friends. I don't know anymore..."
-You claimed that it was the Shabak who placed the explosives in your car, at any rate they didn't belong to you.
"Of course not. Had we had explosives we would never have put it in our family car. We raise our children and invest love in them, we would never do anything to endanger them".
-But you endanger their lives every day
"We don't send our children out to throw rocks"
-You can live in a place that does not endanger the lives of your children
" I believe that the minute we will retreat from these areas everything will collapse along with us. If today the front is Chevron and we leave Chevron to Jerusalem then tomorrow the front will be Jerusalem. If we will retreat from Jerusalem and go to Tel Aviv the next front will be Tel Aviv. The Arabs will never be satisfied. They want it all. So, yes you're right every Jewish mother that gives birth to a child is endangering it by the very fact that he or she is Jewish. There is a war going on here".
-How did the explosives get into your car?
"In the beginning I thought it was Arabs who placed it there and that is also what the authorities told us, but after they worked on the car for 3 hours they began to sing a different tune. All kinds of high ranking people came and told us that all other leads are being investigated. I was very surprised by their strange behavior and me and Noam thought to ourselves maybe it was all a setup".
-So what do you think? that the Shabak tried to assassinate you?
"No I don't think they tried to kill us could be that they tried to frame us (by making is look as if we stored explosives in the car). Look these are the methods of Avishai Raviv".
Does the trauma of Raviv still haunt you?
"I don't have any trauma, not at all. Noam always says that there is no reason for hysteria. But the one thing that we did learn from the whole thing is that the Shabak in order to achieve its goals will resort to all kinds of illegal methods to that end".
How did he (Raviv) succeed in fooling you?
" Fool us? No, in the beginning he really was a right-wing activist. At some stage they caught him on something and they promised to let off if he cooperated with them".
-Is there no possibility tat you will close your eyes and imagine peace and coexistence?
"No and I think the left cannot imagine it either. The left always fantasizes all kinds of fantasies . The minute the Arabs come close their homes they don't want to live with them. The left wants quiet and I think that in order to achieve that we have to take them out and not us like the left thinks".
- How? do you have any ideas?
"We have Zim and we have EL AL. We have trains and buses. Funds can be raised for this the entire European Union can donate their money for this cause".
- (will they go) by their own free will?
Look, What do you mean by their own will? They have an ultimatum. Those that want to stay, there are certain rules that the Torah lays down regarding a resident stranger. They cannot own land or arms and they cannot vote. Whoever wants to live here without rights can live in quiet without being able to vote or hold office".
-You claim that you have been abandoned (by the government) Maybe you should establish the State of Judea , your own state?
"The government has indeed abandoned us. My husbands name appears on a PLO assassination list but he is refused a weapon and he didn't receive any security regulations from the authorities. They don't care if something will happen to him.
"The idea of the State of Judea is now suspended but if our choice is either to leave or to stay and organize our own force to defend ourselves then of course our choice would be the latter".
-What kind of children are you raising?
"Healthy strong and courageous. On the Arabs they learn from everyday life. My daughter walks around with a sticker reading No Arabs-No terror but I teach them not to be afraid".
-How do you do that?
"I tell them that there is a G-d who runs this world and every time a miracle occurs to us and we are saved I place their hand on their heart and say to them 'see how much Hashem loves you' you can feel it Hashem is here with us and they talk with him when it is difficult for them.
I'll tell you a little story. several weeks ago there was massive shooting here in Chevron, bullets were flying over our heads. During a lull between the shooting my 5 year old son Oved took his 2 and a half year old brother to the Synagogue to his father who was already there. Oved tells him along the way 'see how Hashem is watching over us' and suddenly massive fire is directed at our house and the soldiers on our roof are shooting back and the whole house is shaking.
"I went downstairs to hug them and I saw the 5 year old take the hand of the 2 and a half year old and place it on his heart and he said to him 'see how hashem was watching over us, nothing happened to us'. They didn't want to go back home only to the synagogue with their father and pray. This is how you raise children with faith,. courage, and readiness not spoiled children who constantly demand 'give me this' 'buy me that'".
-Do you see in Noam a sort of modern day hero?
"Yes, definitely and I do all I can to assist him, to be his partner, the woman behind him".
-Which biblical figure does he remind you of?
To King David I feel a special attachment. I named one of my sons David. It says on King David that he was called Adino Haetzni because on the one hand he was adin (sensitive, delicate) but he also had a different side to him, tough and unyielding like a tree (haetzni, from the word etz meaning tree). The combination of both these qualities appeals very much to me and this is what I see in Noam. In his familial life he is very sensitive, always helpful but in his public life he is tough and unyielding with courage and Mesirut Nefesh".
-Your husband said that Netanyahu is worse than Peres.
"That's right because he destroyed the right. During Rabin's tenure there was great opposition to his policies but when Bibi came along and he did what he did in the name of the right. He sat with them, he signed away Hevron, then finished there is no right left anymore".
-Then he is a traitor according to your view. You called Rabin a traitor even though he was never considered a right-winger.
"Yes Bibi is more problematic because he destroyed from within. We should've put Rabin before a public tribunal".
-And Netanyahu?
"Same"
And Sharon?
"Same"
-So who is left?
"We don't have a leader today. We had Rabbi Kahane and he was murdered".
-And what will be with Sharon? Will someone put a din Rodef on him too?
"We are not Halachic authorities and we don't issue Din Rodefs. This much I can tell you, anyone who doesn't truly believe that our right to this land comes from the Torah will fall in the end. It doesn't matter if it's Bibi, Arik, or Ehud Barak or Rabin. He will fall eventually".
-What is your view on the Rabin assassination?
"I'm not saying he should've been killed but I do admire the mesirut nefesh of Yigal Amir. Amir could've been killed by Rabins bodyguards had they acted like they should".
-Was he prepared for that possibility?
"I am sure that he was. He wanted to stop with his life this process that was leading us to the brink of disaster".
-Do you support him?
"Noam tries to help him in his battle to better his prison conditions. His conditions are inhumane . Murderers who burned their wives and children stay in suites compared to him. He is kept in solitary confinement because their goal is to drive him insane".
-Why?
"Because there many question marks surrounding the involvement of the Shabak and what they did (or didn't do) to prevent the killing. Therefore they want people to say on him that he is crazy and doesn't know what he's taking about".
-Are you in touch with him?
"Yes definitely. Noam is involved in the legal process. He helps people from all over Yesha. He also took it upon himself to assist Amirs brother Chagai and also Dror Adani who are unjustly imprisoned. Since they don't come from the elite, like the Har-Shefi family, they don't receive public support.
Don't get me wrong I don't think she should've been punished. With all due respect there is a limit to this policy of anyone who is close to someone who committed an "illegal" act is detained or arrested. They put Noam in administrative detention after Baruch Goldstein's HY"D action in the Mearat Hamachpela. What's the connection? did he come to ask our advice beforehand? We were shocked that he went and sacrificed his life and it would be the height of hypocrisy to condemn him when I know in my heart that I owe him my life because he preempted a Pogrom against the Jews in Chevron".
- Listen to what happened to me recently. I asked a journalist friend of mine to provide me with a question for the interview. He began to shout at me " I won't help you provide a platform to those who commit crimes against humanity".
"This person in my view is a 'nebach' if that's what he thinks. Maybe he harbors some kind of jealousy towards us for the fact that we are ready to sacrifice ourselves for our beliefs".
-There are people who think that you are causing damage to the state of Israel.
"I think they are the ones who are causing damage. These are people that are leading us to our doom".
-There are those who think that you are racists like the Nazis.
" G-d will help. (noted TV personality) Chaim Yavin told us that once. He was working on a documentary regarding administrative detentions of Jews and Arabs, he came to our house and he told us 'you are Nazis'. We were shocked, here we invite him into our house and serve him coffee and then he calls us Nazis...."
Topic: An old interview with Elisheva Federman wife of Noam (Read 3322 times)