Speaking to a Yisrael Beitenu central committee assembly in the Ramada Hotel in Yerushalayim, it was evident that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is still licking his wounds from the Jerusalem mayoral race defeat for his party’s candidate, Moshe Leon.

“Yes, it is true we were unsuccessful but at times, the process is no less important than the outcome” he explained. “All the accusations and allegations of deal-making and the like were not only proven untrue but reality is quite the contrary” he added.

Lieberman was critical of Mayor Barkat and his decision to give Rav Chaim Epstein of the Bnei Yeshiva party a deputy mayoral post. He pointed out they acted in violation of the law by not publicizing the deal before the election to the benefit of voters.

Lieberman then targeted Shas, explaining the deal that was signed between the mayor and Shas was contrary to promises made by Barkat during the elections. “Regarding Barkat, we are not addressing an election victory but rather monetary purchasing power” Lieberman added.

“We were offered the same deal as Rav Auerbach’s representative by the mayor but we refused to even discuss the possibility and if I was going to make an agreement with the mayor it would have been transparent to the public. Therefore I am proud with how Yisrael Beitenu handled itself.”

Regarding religion and state, Lieberman explains his party “respects tradition and Jewish values even at the expense of voter popularity”. He stressed that from the day the party was founded he has spoken openly in opposition of separation of religion and state. “In the State of Israel it is impossible to separate religion and state” he said adding “this is because with Jews one cannot separate between religion and nationality. There is a total identity between the two but we do favor a separation between religion and politics.”

Lieberman elaborated, citing he feels in the Chief Rabbinate of Israel elections, both for chief rabbis and the council; there is too much involvement by politicians and leaders which ultimately compromises the integrity of the Chief Rabbinate and its institutions. He feels the local religious councils must become an integral part of local government. “The local religious councils are not mentioned in Shulchan Aruch, Talmud Bavli or Yerushalmi” he added, insisting that eliminating them and incorporating their services into local government will result in better service for citizens and increased “kovod Hatorah”, not to mention saving enormous sums of money required to keep the independent body operational.

“I want to stress once again that our goal is not to compromise or harm Halacha, but simply to make religious services friendlier to citizens.”

Lieberman added that regarding the drafting of chareidim, his party supports the version backed by MK Ayelet Shaked which calls for economic sanctions against chareidim who do not comply and not criminal sanctions. His party however feels the law is “incomplete” as Yisrael Beitenu feels all citizens must report for an approved national service or military duty, including Israeli Arabs.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)