MK (Yahadut Hatorah) Rav Moshe Gafne met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday evening 20 Teves 5774, ahead of the Shaked Committee finalizing the new chareidi draft law.
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It is reported that Gafne did not hide his concerns regarding the current coalition, its policies and the draft law. He called on the prime minister to soften the severity of the law, which is met with widespread chareidi objections are present.
Persons close to Gafne add that in recent days he stated that if the prime minister truly wanted to rid himself of Yesh Atid as the media leaks indicate he does, Mr. Netanyahu has had ample opportunity to do so of late as Lapid and his party continue to defy the prime minister and his Likud party.
Nevertheless Mr. Netanyahu continues with the current coalition, which Gafne feels suits him fine, telling Mr. Netanyahu that he does not believe he wants to bring the chareidiminto the coalition.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
Why would Netanyahu care about charedim? Bittel Zman for Gafne.
It is in Likud’s interest to keep the three Hareidi establishment parties tethered to the Israeli right, rather than risking then allying with the Israeli left, the Arabs or seeking foreign support in opposing conscription. Eliminating penal sanctions for draft refusal, combined with cutting off government funding to yeshiva students who aren’t veterans, would probably be tolerable to most Likud voters — and due to the importance of preventing mass conscription of yeshiva students the hareidi parties will be a lot easier to bargain for (instead of asking for money and patronage, they’ll be content to be left alone and not tossed into prison).