According to a report appearing in Kol Chareidi, in return for chareidi support for the Shas Beit Shemesh mayoral race candidate, Moshe Abutbul, there will be increased cooperation between Shas and Agudas Yisrael in other areas, including the monthly child allowance issue. The main points of this agreement were hammered out on Tuesday morning during a meeting between Eli Yishai and Yaakov Litzman.
Litzman requested from Yishai to agree to the formation of a chareidi bloc on the issue of the monthly child payments, explaining that they will not join any new coalition government unless the issue is addressed in coalition agreements.
Yishai responded by explaining that this has been a nd remains a deal-breaker for Shas. In addition, he told Litzman that Agudah barely represents three Knesset votes since Degel HaTorah does not necessarily adhere to an agreement signed by United Torah Judaism. Yishai also pointed out the chasm between the two factions of Agudas Yisrael is widening, due in no small part over the disagreement over who will run Chinuch Atzmai. Yishai stated that a total split between the chassidish (UTJ) and litvish (Degel HaTorah) factions appears likely at present.
Litzman questioned the possibility of a deal without the inclusion of Degel, to which Yishai stated this too has a price, namely, the withdrawal of the Agudah candidate in the Beit Shemesh mayoral race and support for the Shas candidate, Moshe Abutbul.
Litzman did not appear too surprised by the offer, and stated he would check into it and get back with a response. Yishai also promised to check into such a deal with Rav Ovadia Yosef Shlita.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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6 Responses
A united Hareidi party would be a “major” party eqiuvalent to Labor, Likud or Kadima, able to take a leadership role in addressing the future of the Jewish people in Eretz Yisrael. The current frum parties are “minor” parties, equivalent to Meretz or Gil (Pensioners), and are limited to grubbing for leftovers from the major parties.
The last time the Hareidim were a “major” political force was in the 1920s (prior to De Haan’s death), and had they been better at politics they would have prevented the hilonim from taking over Eretz Yisrael (and probably have prevented the holocaust, since fear of the zionists was a major factor in Britian blocking Jews from leaving Europe)
Hashem yeshmor, if degel and utj split . . . anyone who remebers what life was like during elections when there were two different parties gets a stomach ache from hearing about a possible split. Maybe everyone (all three parties) could get togther. What’s the difference if the man running chinuch atzma wears a shtreimel or not, maybe they each could have a rep and shas to. At the end it all boils down to money.
If agudah and utj would stay out of the BS elections Abutbul has a good chance of winning. many chiloni shepradim like him a lot. I don’t understan why agudah has to mix in the first place, they have no chance of winning only of causing abutbul to loose.
I am ready to make a kiddush and recite “Shehichianu” when and if this happens.
had they been better at politics they would have prevented the hilonim from taking over Eretz Yisrael*******AND IF THEY WOULD HAVE COME IN LARGE ###’s to reside in E”Y, the entire landscape would be different. What a loss for klal yisroel!!!
DEALS & more deals that’s what politics in Israel is all about. Leshem shamayim is a different ballgame althogether.
Degel and Agudah can not agree on Porush running and this crack bt them will hurt the election for mayor and bring in Nir instead. BTW they should keep Uri who is the best guy for the job and took care of the Jerusalem defeicit.
Akuperma,you are some historian.
Its sad that the two camps are this divided. If it were up to me Id make rav elyashiv and hacham ovadia yossef study a minimum of once a week (some type of seder) to encourage a rapprochement between the two “religious camps…” thats my dream.