MKs Moshe Gafne and Yaakov Litzman of Yahadut Hatorah met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The two were briefed on security issues. They told Mr. Netanyahu they oppose the zero VAT Law and that at present, entering the coalition government is not on their agenda.
The Zero VAT (Value Added Tax) law was discussed and the two expressed their opposition.
When asked about the possibility of entering the coalition government, they explained it is not an option at present since Yesh Atid leader Finance Minister Yair Lapid is still an integral part of the coalition.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman earlier in the week explained his cooperation with Lapid to keep chareidim out of the coalition. According to Lieberman it will cost 3.5 billion shekels to bring chareidim into the coalition and that sum is a non-starter and that is why he is aligned with Lapid to keep Shas and Yahadut Hatorah out of the coalition. Lieberman added that while Likud leaders wished to bring the chareidim into the coalition instead of Lapid, he remains opposed.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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One Response
As long as the government is still planning mass arrests of non-zionist yeshiva students (rather than tying yeshiva subsidies to military service), the hareidi parties can’t join the government. Doing so would guarantee that the anti-zionist hareidi groups (e.g. Eidis hareidis) would replace Degel ha-Torah, Agudah and Shas on the “hareidi street.”.