On the background of reports about tensions in the coalition regarding the advancement of a Chareidi draft law, National Camp chairman Benny Gantz visited the home and yeshivah of HaGaon HaRav Meir Tzvi Bergman in Bnei Brak on Sunday morning.
HaRav Bergman, one of the Zakeinei Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, told Gantz at the beginning of the conversation that his roots in Eretz Yisrael go back six generations – before the Arabs – so no one can have claims about the Jewish presence in Eretz Yisrael.
Later in the conversation, Gantz told the Rosh Yeshivah that he doesn’t want to compromise on the draft law but seeks to reach an agreement. The Rosh HaYeshivah responded that we can’t compromise on the Torah because we are not the owners of it, adding that the Torah has accompanied us throughout the Geluyos, when we lacked a country of our own and weapons, and the Torah is the only thing that protects us.
The Rosh Yeshivha, the son-in-law of HaRav Shach, z’tl, told Gantz that when he would tell HaRav Shach about an IDF soldier who was killed, he would shed tears of heartache.
When Gantz mentioned the upcoming start of the new school year [September 1st], the Rosh Yeshivah sighed and said that HaRav Shach, z’tl, wouldn’t eat on the first day of September, saying, “How is it possible to eat when a million Jewish children are going to school but don’t know how to recite Kriyas Shema?”
The visit took place on the background of reports of conflict within the coalition regarding the Chareidi draft law, which was promised by the coalition to the Chareidi parties during coalition negotiations. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Likud party are now showing great reluctance to advance a Chareidi draft law due to the already sky-high tension in the country due to the leftist protests, which are ostensibly against the judicial reform but are actually against religion and the Torah. The Chareidi politicians are insisting that the agreement on the draft law be upheld and some Chareidi reports said that the visit of Gantz, who was greeted with great respect and honor, was a signal by the Chareidi parties to Netanyahu that they have alternatives to the current government if their demands are not met.
Gantz’s visit to HaRav Bergman’s yeshivah, Yeshivas HaRashbi:
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
6 Responses
The Torah should save us from the medina of the zionist and moslems
A couple of years of community service is too much?
“his roots in Eretz Yisrael go back six generations – before the Arabs” i dont know what he means. the arabs came to israel in mohamed time. maybe they meant before the state
obviously our roots in the land go back 1000 years before the arabs got here
“six generations – before the Arabs” ???
what else is incorrect here?
Arabs, whether we like it or not, have been in Israel for over a thousand years.
“The Rosh HaYeshivah responded…that the Torah has accompanied us throughout the Geluyos, when we lacked a country of our own and weapons, and the Torah is the only thing that protects us.”
Something obviously got lost in translation here. Jews do not have a country of their own; the State of Israel, to which this refers, is Zionist, not Jewish. This is not merely a semantic distinction; it is a very real and practical difference.
Rav Bergman knows well that the Zionist State is only a liability to Jews, not an asset, so clearly he would never have stated anything like this.
The vast majority of the Arab population arrived only in the 20th century, after the Jews had started returning.
A significant number of the Arabs arrived only after WW2 — why else did the UN change the definition of “refugee” for this conflict only, by removing the requirement that a person have been in their home for at least two years before being forced to leave?