At the height of the coalition negotiations, dozens of council members affiliated with Shlomi Emunim signed a letter to Agudas Yisrael Knesset members demanding that “Agudas Yisrael MKs demand meaningful positions to solve the problems of the chareidi tzibur in the form of deputy ministers without ministers over them”.

They are referring to the arrangement by which Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman serves with ministerial authority, but yet is not a cabinet minister, in line with the long-standing instructions from Gedolei Torah throughout the decades.

Thirty members of the Shlomi Emunim Council across the country signed a letter demanding that Agudas Yisrael MKs demand meaningful positions in the coalition negotiations to solve the problems of the chareidi tzibur.

In the letter they claim that taking ineffective positions is a disaster for chareidi Jewry. “We have heard in the last few days the reports about the coalition negotiations, and the apparent trend, according to reports, to receive a large number of deputies, committee chairmen, etc., so that each will have a title.”

“This is a disaster for chareidi Jewry, and your goal in the Knesset is not to have titles and positions without teeth, but to maintain real positions of influence for the sake of your public.”

“We demand that,” they write, “Agudas Yisrael will insist on accepting key positions, i.e., deputy positions without a minister above them, in the relevant ministries for solving problems for the chareidi public. It is clear that a deputy minister is a minister without any significant influence, and certainly lacks any ability to lead a policy.

“There is no need to mention again the many problems we face: educational institutions, local authorities, the housing shortage, the impotence of a government ministry, arbitrary behavior and the blocking of budgets for institutions, unreasonable bureaucracy and so on…”

They signed their letter with the words: “In your hands, in the power of the great achievement in the elections, to change the situation.” The letter was signed by members of the councils of Shlomi Emunim in the chareidi cities.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)