Shas’ efforts to team with Bayit Yehudi to form a religious bloc continue, leading to an apology to the dati leumi party appearing in the Shas affiliated Yom L’Yom newspaper. In a statement in the name of the party co-leaders, Eli Yishai, Aryeh Deri and Arial Atias, they renounce any and all columns appearing in the newspaper speaking out against Bayit HaYehudi, with good reason for today, Thursday 27 Shevat 5773 may be a record breaker.

Perhaps it’s a ‘good-guy/bad-guy’ game but in Thursday’s edition, the newspaper’s Rabbi Moshe Sapir, the leading commentator, attacked the dati leumi party. In another column, Rabbi Yisrael Margalit refers to the party and Yesh Atid as “corrupt”. There is reference to Naftali Bennett’s “Half shekel coin sized kippa” along with other accusation, insults and rejection of the dati leumi hashkafa.

The threesome’s message distances them from the harsh words, explaining to the public that they were not consulted regarding the anti-Bayit Yehudi statements and they have no connection to them.

In the column entitled The Bayit Yehudi Monopoly, Rav Sapir attacks Naftali Bennett. “Everyone knows who he is. He is talented with his smile and liked and befriended by all. One will never hear him go after another, or speak ill of others. Even when attacked and reminded of who he really is his response is controlled and calling to embrace one another, all of us from all the various hashkafos.

Sapir lashed out at the dati leumi party which released statements this week that “Shas may have a monopoly, one that makes the tzibur sick of Torah because of its behavior.”

Sapir goes on to say Bayit Yehudi is not “Amsellem but the National Religious Party of the old days; of Zevulun Hammer and Yosef Burg”. He adds that from the founding of the state until 5741, the NRP had more or less the same number of mandates as it enjoys today and it took advantage of its numbers primarily to wipe the Chief Rabbinate clean of rabbonim and scholars and grabbed the natural benefit for the good of those who study Zionist ideology. “They sold their souls to the ideological Mapai for as long as they received infinite government jobs, filling the offices from the Rabbanut, kashrus and marriage, the Ministry of the Interior and then taking control of education and religious affairs. Everything good was destroyed. After all of this we heard this week the accusations that the representatives of the religious Zionists in the religious councils were trampled by Shas in every city. An entire generation of Zionist rabbonim was severed under the chareidi steamroller’ they claim.”

Sapir continues, speaking of the threat from the dati leumi party regarding compromise in Halacha that it is likely to result. He warns of the possibility of “irreversible changes in giyur” by Bayit Yehudi, and “if only someone could inform us that we are mistaken and it is untrue and that Naftali Bennett wishes to indeed run a Jewish house with traditional roots as we have carried the torch from generation to generation without wavering and without compromise towards restoring the glory of yesteryear…”

The lengthy scathing attack may very well represent the final nail in Eli Yishai’s religious bloc coffin with Naftali Bennett, despite his announcement distancing the party leadership from the column.

“The words sharing the burden are childish and nonsense. The main thing is their chareidi bashing as they roll their eyes in righteousness as they strike out against chareidim and seek to prevent chareidim from entering the government.”

Shas officials’ seemingly contradict the apology of the leadership trio, telling the media the order to lash out against Bayit Yehudi came from “Maran’s home” and the newspaper’s vaad rabbonim reviewed and approved the columns before they went to print.

Bayit Yehudi MK Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan responded. “What a cynical use of Toras Yisrael towards bashing an entire tzibur that can teach the bashers by example what true service to Am Yisrael is. I personally was an operations officer in the Artillery Corps while continue to learn and teach Torah. Those who study Torah must also be honest with themselves and those around them to know when they no longer really study all day and then serve in the army.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)