Likud MK Tzipi Chotovely, who has the first woman’s spot on the party’s election lineup, feels the 19th Knesset will be a better place if the ruling coalition does not include chareidim, especially Shas.
Chotovely last week took part in a panel discussion in the Ben-Gurion High School in Nes Tziona along with MK (Bayit HaYehudi) MK Uri Orbach, Miki Rosenthal (Labor), Tamar Sandberg (Meretz), and Boaz Toporovsky (Yesh Atid).
A member of the dati leumi community, Chotovely stated “The elite few must be permitted to continue learning [torah] as is the case with outstanding athletes and scientists, but we mustn’t lose the concept of the people’s army”, she stated in the discussion surrounding the ‘sharing the burden’ concept.
She continued to explain that in order to achieve this, there must be a coalition that does not include Shas. “Every time the coalition includes chareidim, at the end of the day it hurts [efforts to achieve this goal].”
Orbach echoed Chotovely’s remarks, stating when Likud rises to power, its first move it to turn to Shas and Yahadut HaTorah and “turn over the votes of the dati leumi voters to Shas. Likud gave them control of religious services and the Chief Rabbinate in Israel. Even if they receive 59 seats, the first two seats [towards securing a majority] will go to Shas.”
Chotovely posits that if Likud emerges strong enough, the marriage with Shas and the chareidim will end abruptly. Orbach, also a member of the dati leumi community, feels that this will only be the case if HaBayit HaYehudi is strong enough to compel such a reality.
“I come from the ranks of the dati leumi tzibur. The IDF Mechinot Yeshivot and Hesder Yeshivot are ideal models. The chareidim must learn that military service is a part of our torah values. We do not view this as being forced upon us by the secular state. They must understand the tradition that has developed in their community is inappropriate.”
The remarks by the panel members come on the heels of comments released last week by Likud coalition leader MK Ze’ev Elkin, who stated it is entirely possible that the next coalition government will not include chareidi parties.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
They have the benefit of sanity and our holy mesorah on their side.
It mustn’t be imposed. Ingrained trends don’t change overnight. And certainly not in the middle of their learning at 18. But change is inevitable.
They must understand the tradition that has developed in their community is inappropriate.
What a chutzpah. Those who strayed after the zionist heresy must “teach” those who followed רובם ככולם of gedolei yisroel that the standard unmodified Jewish tradition is “inappropriate”?! They would be offended if the chiloni majority spoke of “teaching” them that their superstitious attachment to an old book and a disputed land and a mythical Creator is inappropriate for this enlightened age, and is an obstacle to the true goal of ככל הגוים בית ישראל and לא עוד עם לבדד ישכון. And yet they presume to “teach” such a lesson to us.
There has always been a view that the hatred of the hilonim against the Torah is really only directed against the hareidim, and that by making it clear that they (the dati leumi) hate hareidim as much as the hilonim do, they will be accepted in the hiloni society.
Being realistic, the hilonim think otherwise. It is Torah and Mitsvos that they object, not streimels or Yiddish or learning all day.
There is much precedent for this.
The highly secularized German Jews (ones such as the ancestors of the the Washington Heights “yekke” community were a distinct minority among German Jews) inthe 1930s believed that the “Jewish problem” of Germany was because of the traditional East European Jews, and that if they clearly disassociated themselves from the frum Jews, they wouldn’t have any problem with the Germans. The Nazis (after they were elected the leaders of Germany) thought otherwise.
“Democracy” is the illness, “demography” is the answer.
This is the same nonsense said by new voices.
First there was the EREV RAV that said; “Who is this Moses guy to tell us what to do? Aren’t we all holy?” Later it was the OVDEY BALL who said; “These prophets have their opinion and we have ours. Who are they to tell us what to do?” Then came the MITYAVANIM who said; “Get with it! What’s with all these old fashion ideas? Who are these dried up old Sages to tell us what to do?” They were followed by the TZADUKIM who said; “The Rabbis made it all up. We have the right to understand the Torah as we want. Who are they anyways to tell us what to do?” Then came the KARIIM who said; “Only the written Torah is holy all the other stuff was made up and we have the right to make up our own stuff as well.”
So you see nothing has really changed over the years. All that changes is what the EREV RAV calls themselves.