In his first-ever address before the Knesset as a MK, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid stated “there will be no civil war. 10% of the population is not able to threaten civil war.”
“We cannot ignore the fact that the discussion of sharing the burden has raised these threatening voices again. It negates the entire concept of democracy. The discussion touches their biggest fears but this exactly why the public elected us to sit in this house. We have not come to create a rift but we have come to unite. The time has come to admit that there is a gaping wound in the heart of our Israeli society,” are the words of the new MK, who in the coming days or weeks may become a senior cabinet minister.
He continued, “And we must tell them that there are clear rules of right and wrong. Women are sent to the back of the bus in Jerusalem and the state already does not know what to say. If permitted to continue, tomorrow there will not be a bus. The rules apply to everyone. Outlaws break into IDF bases and all the state can say is they are shocked, accompanied by weak condemnations. In yishuvim in the north and south police dare not enter. It is anarchy.”
Lapid’s tone and his words were clear. He is a messenger to implement change, to compel chareidim to serve in the IDF and national service. He then addressed the diplomatic process between Israel and the PA (Palestinian Authority). He stated the peace process cannot be conducted under the threat of violence and everyone’s voice should and must be heard. He touched on his economic vision, as well as the fact that he feels “There is more that unites us than divides us.”
“There are differences of opinion between us. There are arguments but this house not only symbolizes the right to disagree, but that they must be an end [to disagreement]…”
“We are different people. We have among us chareidim, religious and non-religious, Jews and Muslims, Christians, men and women. There is a genuine beauty in this complex colorful mosaic and an intellectual power. The time has come to fight. For this to occur, we must return the sovereignty to the state. It must return and govern as a sovereign authority and that is the job of this house. Our responsibility; and this is the nice aspect, which together we imagine just how nice the State of Israel may look.”
Lapid then pointed his finger at his agenda to sharply cut the size of the cabinet, stating “The cabinet has 12 unnecessary ministers,” signaling he is not about to accept entering a coalition with almost 30 cabinet ministers.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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8 Responses
War? Bring it on!
..on the eve of the disengagment (June 24, 2005), he published a caustic castigation of the opponents of unilateral withdrawal.
He warned darkly of the dire consequences and the unbridgeable rift that would result if they succeeded in persuading the public that the expulsion of Jews from Gaza should be aborted.
However, barely a year later (October 13, 2006), Lapid published a breathtakingly brazen follow-up, titled “Things we couldn’t say during disengagement.” In it he admitted it had all been a giant ploy: “It was never about the Palestinians, demography, and endeavor for peace, the burden on the IDF.”
No, confessed Lapid, the real reason for imposing the deportation of Jewish citizens and destruction of Jewish towns and villages was…
to put the settlers in their place, to teach them “the limits of their power” and show them who really calls the shots in the country.
NOW AGAIN. Lapid shows it is/was never about “share the burden” it is rather about showing Who’s Boss
Pretty Boy is just another fascist hiding behind the rhetoric of democracy. What he really advocates is DeMockracy. A mockery of human rights, minority rights, Jewish identity and the democratic principle of representative Government. Forced military conscription against the beliefs of the conscript is considered by the world at large a serious violation of human rights. The targeting of a minority with oppressive legislation and the active persecution of their institutions in considered a crime against humanity. (Maybe Pretty Boy thinks he is in Rwanda?)
Pretty Boy is nothing more than the talking head of the New Israel Fund. His agenda is to destroy the Jew character of Israel and replace it with some sort of universal, liberal Humanism. All his chatter of unity means become like me or be destroyed. He is the true son of his father.
He is thinking in terms of raising an army and marching on the kenesset. Rather he should be wary of massive civil disobedience including refusal of hareidi soldiers to obey orders, appeals to international groups that could undermine the pro-Israel overseas supports and lead to international boycotts, and the possibility that the hareidi will offer to support a peaceful settlement of the conflict by which Jews would be a Torah-based autonomous community within a larger Islamic state (what it appears that De Haan was negotiating when the zionists murdered him).
Lapid still is supporting drafting virtually all hareidi men and women, with the threat of prison for those who don’t cooperate.
Saner heads may prevail. Indeed, if the Israelis ended conscription and recruited hareidim by offering good conditions of service and benefits, my guess is that most hareidi baal ha-battim would be attracted to the military. However one should understand that many hilonim see conscription as a way to “break” the hareidi community before it becomes too big, and that any conscription that doesn’t attempt to coerce people to go “off the derekh” will be a failure from their perspective.
Why are all these articles in YW???
Lapid is a RASHA & any party that joins with him (are you listening, Bennett?)will be punished along with him – just like Korach!
No. 3: Are you proposing, in your third paragraph, that Israel adopt an all-volunteer army, perhaps as the US did about 40 years ago? Interesting idea, but how much will it cost, and who will pay that cost? As for your speculation that many Hareidim would join, I would be curious to see how that plays out.
Zelasko, the Chareidim refuse to serve because of bittul Torah while the reason for their ability to be learning is the frei paying their bills.
This man is a real idiot does he not relize that 23% of the population doesn’t serve they are called arabs and yet he opssesses over Haredim.