Likud officials are fearful of losing the chareidi support for the presidential mandate. Following the elections each party leader must confer with President Shimon Peres and make a recommendation regarding the presidential mandate to begin negotiations to establish a coalition government. If the chareidi parties recommend Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich, along with likely recommendations from The Movement, Yesh Atid and other parties, Yacimovich, whose party is expected to emerge the second largest, may have a chance at assembling a coalition.
Shas’ Aryeh Deri has recently stated unequivocally that his party will recommend Likud, but Yahadut Hatorah has refrained from making such a commitment. In actuality, Yahadut officials have stated they will go with the party that appears to best represent chareidi interests, adding they are not bound to go with Likud. In all fairness, senior Likud officials have made similar statements, signaling the possibility of establishing a coalition that excludes the chareidim.
It is difficult to envision a situation in which Yahadut Hatorah and Shas do not back the same candidate, for in essence; they require one another’s support in Knesset to create a formidable chareidi bloc to advance issues relevant to the frum community. According to most polls, Shas and Yahadut Hatorah will have a minimum combined 15 seats. Shas remains confident and in an appearance on Channel 2’s Meet the Press this past motzei Shabbos, the eve of 2 Shevat 5773, Aryeh Deri stated that “we will surprise”, confident Shas will emerge with more seats than polls indicate.
The daily Maariv adds to Likud’s concerns, reporting Deri’s statements committing to go with Likud are simply election strategy and in actuality, Deri will go where his interests are best served. In that same interview on motzei Shabbos Deri stated that he would be pleased to enter into a coalition that includes Labor, stating Yacimovich and Shas share many social economic visions and working with her would be a positive step. Deri explained that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was his man for security issues, but when it comes to social economic concerns, he sees more eye-to-eye with Yacimovich.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
Great idea, side with Labor, establish another Hamstan in Shomron and East Jerusalem then there will be no need to worry about “social economic concerns”. The Chareidim won’t count because the Jews won’t count!
1. In economic matters, the Hareidim are much closer to Labor than to Likud. As with most Jews (and Democrats) in the USA, they tend to want benefits from the government, and aren’t too concerned about balancing the budget.
2. A Left-Hareidi coalition would have to agree to forget about conscription of yeshiva students, at least to the extent that a yeshiva student who refused to join the army would be subject to more sanctions than an Arab who doesn’t join the army. This would be hard to sell to most of the hard core leftists, though perhaps easier than to sell it to the “right” since many leftists are also trying to avoid military service (albeit for different reasons).
It’s stories like this that make me wish for Moshiach all the more. I’m sick and tired of the religious parties having to pick which slate of secular roshoim they will side with.
No. 2: Since you brought it up, why are leftists trying to avoid military service?
nfgo: Many leftists don’t want to serve in the military. It is uncool. It is politically incorrect – and remember leftists are much more likely to want to travel abroad. If the family has money, they can go to university abroad which reduces the incentive to go to the army. Note the most polls in Israel show a very large percentage of Israelis want to give up the West Bank and believe that doing so will end the war.
Israli elections are so complex and challenging in many different ways. On the one hand, it is understandable that Shas and other chareidi parties want to ensure that they have sufficient funding for the neeeds of those in their communities; and that they try hard to make sure that this accomplished. However, sometimes in the process, they can overlook other broader issues that may even be more important. For instance, the safety and security of Israel. I think that most people would agree that netanyahu and likud would do a better job protecting Israel from Iran and other terorrist organizations than yacimovitch and labor. This being said, if Shas were to join a coalition with labor, while they may be getting funding and other perks for all the members of their party, , they will be living in a less safe and more vulnerable Israel. As a result, I feel that it is important for Shas and other parties, who may win significant number of seats in the upcoming election to look beyond their immediate needs and to consider all of the other significant factors that will affect not only them, but the entire Am Yisroel.