Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, 8 Teves, met with senior rabbonim affiliated with the dati leumi community. They met in Mr. Netanyahu’s office and the meeting was held at the behest of the Prime Minister.
At the start of the meeting, Mr. Netanyahu asked to express his appreciation for the support given to him by the rabbonim: “There is a political effort here through demonstrations and other things to bring down the national government headed by us, who are concerned about the Land of Israel and are fighting for it.
“We have not always been wise to stand up to these attempts, once in 1992 it succeeded, this time we will make sure it does not work, I think we are all experienced and none of us is fooled, so I just wanted to express my appreciation and strengthen each other. Thank you very much”.
Mr. Netanyahu was addressing recent protests held against him on motzei Shabbos over recent weeks in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, with the Jerusalem protest attended by political right-wingers. The protests, with the Tel Aviv venue attracting thousands, are demanding PM Netanyahu step down due to the various police investigations ongoing against him. Clearly, Mr. Netanyahu is beginning to feel the mounting pressure against him, leading to his extending a hand to meet with the rabbonim.
Rosh Yeshivat Bnei David Rabbi Eli Sadan expressed his anger over these protests and how his political opponents are hounding Mr. Netanyahu.
“A Jew like you, who has been in the government for 20 years, could earn 10 times or 100 times as many times as much as you do. To say that there’s a problem, that you received a cigarette; if it were not funny, it’s just an unprecedented scandal, it’s hefker! They are trying to change the government by bypassing the ballot box,” said Rabbi Sadan.
Rosh Yeshivat Torah M’Tzion Rabbi Yitzchak Neria told Kol Chai Radio host Betzalel Kahn on Wednesday day morning 9 Teves. Rav Neria explained that since he was speaking on a Torani news station, he felt compelled to explain to the tzibur at large that at times we lack an awareness of all we must be thankful for, the ability to live in Eretz Yisrael, the increase in the number of people engrossed in limud Torah and he feels in this case, the protests are unjustifiable, harmful and simply unwanted. He agreed that Mr. Netanyahu is not Torah-observant but feels it is extremely important to recognize all the good that we see from HKBH and how the current administration is perhaps the best we can hope for, so he prefers to focus on the positive vis-a-vis Mr. Netanyahu, and not the negative so many news stations prefer to report.
Rabbi Neria added that whatever the case may be, as he feels pressure from around him, the Prime Minister did reach out and turn to the rabbonim, seeking their support and to keep them in his loop.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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One Response
why are they praising a guy trying to shut down yeshivas, then when frum soldiers join the army they are forced to shave their beards, listen to kol isha and even worse sleep in the same room rachmana litzlan with females who often walk around very untznius.