The media is abuzz with the news that Avigdor Lieberman called on President Shimon Peres to give the premiership mandate to Likud because of the stipulation that his support rides on the premise that Binyamin Netanyahu will establish a government that includes the three large parties, Likud, Kadima and Yisrael Beitenu.
Even his political opponents will agree that Avigdor Lieberman is not only a brilliant strategist, but a seasoned figure in the Israeli political arena, well-attuned to the realities surrounding the establishment of a coalition. Lieberman is well-aware of the realities vis-à-vis Kadima and Likud, but said the right words at the right time.
Lieberman basically presented the ideal situation, exhibiting a position of a centrist moderate, well-aware that there is little to no chance of such a situation coming to fruition for if Tzipi Livni does not rotate as prime minister, she will never enter a Netanyahu-led government, preferring to use her energies to rebuild the party and concentrate on toppling the Netanyahu government as quickly as possible.
One Kadima minister, Ze’ev Boim stated that he and his colleagues will not permit their party to become “a fig leaf for a right-wing extremist government”. Kadima is uninterested in giving a centrist air to what will otherwise be a government made up of right-wing and Shomer Shabbos parties, chareidim and dati leumi. Lieberman is aware that such a government will have an image problem with many Israelis, not to mention the White House and European nations.
By setting his conditions as he did, he can say everything possible was done to bring Kadima into the government. If it works, then he accomplished his goal, but if not, he and his colleagues cannot be accused of pushing a right-wing extremist agenda.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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8 Responses
Unfortunately it will be a right wing that is united on many issues that are opposed to our interests such as civil marriage (not a big deal), conversion (a bigger deal), support for policies that reduce subsidies to the poor (a very big deal for most frum Israelis), and conscription of yeshiva students (a humongous deal, especially if frum Jews are banned from welfare benefits or voting if they don’t quit learning to play soldier).
“Right” and “Left” refer to France in the 1790s, and we couldn’t even vote (in their elections) at the time. The Israeli “right” goes back to Jabotinsky and the Revisionists, and they are a very secular.
I read between the lines:
Ha Sinna Mekalkeles ess Ha’Shura!
Lieberman tries the impossible in order not to sit with the Charedim in one government.
He is not so brilliant after all. His Russian mind does not understand that with a majority of the electorate considering themselves traditionally religious (or more), one cannot push through an anti religeous agenda.
The Russian gentiles brought in by the previous leftist governments do not constitute a state.
When the secular extremists discover that they can’t form a stable coalition government without Shas And Aguda, they will set aside their plans for a “secular revolution,” as usual.
Akuperma – I am not sure how you deem conscription of yeshiva students “to play soldier” a bigger deal than the conversion issue. First of all, the conversion issue has much deeper ramifications for frum Jews than conscription. Second of all, those who are “playing soldier” are actually the ones who allow for the truly capable and worthy yeshiva students to stay in learning in (relative) tranquility.
#4 – A questionable conversion is easy to fix. If someone becomes “Jewish” while not being shomer mitsvos, and then becomes shomer mitsvos (or their child or grandchild becomes frum), and discovers a shailoh, they can convert. When someone who is already frum discovers they aren’t Jewish, the conversion is simple and easy. The conversion issues all involve people who are interested in mitsvos but still want to be part of klal Yisrael. In practice, most frum Jews are reluctant to let non-frum Jews do anything you have to be Jewish for (marry our kids, touch uncooked wine, etc.).
Over the past 60 years, the Israeli army has been a major force for undermining Yiddishkeit. It appears that among graduates of Orthodox schools, less than half who go in the army stay religious. Unless the army made a serious effort to accomodate frum soldiers (ban gloi ariyos, yihud, etc.), there would be serious problems. Tying citizenship rights (voting, child allowances) to military service would similarly cripple the frum community.
And BTW, it is the people sitting in yeshiva and giving up their chance of a respectable parnassah that are enabling those who want to be soldiers to survive (you didn’t think Eretz Yisrael survives based on the middos of mitsvos of the army, did you?).
Akuperma – I also don’t know how you put civil marriages at the bottom of the list…if it’s for only goyim who live in E”Y, fine, but it’s likely to be used and wanted for secular Jews, who can then marry goyim, mamzerim, or even other jews without learning the proper halachos…We could end up with hundreds of eventual baalei teshuva or otherwise (their kids) who may even be mamzerim! I definitely wouldn’t call that “not a big deal”!
#6 -= 1) if you don’t want to marry a goy, don’t.
2) if your kid wants to marry someone from
a non-frum family, check their yihus
3) most non-frum Jews readily “mix” without
regard to marriage — if you hold that a marriage between non-frum Jews is valid, then you probably have to hold that virtually all non-frum Jews are mamzerim as this has been going on for several generations already — of course many are safek goyim (thanks to the conversions) so there is a solution
4) Probably better that people whose culture is to allow “married” people to have multiple “relationships” (which is basically everyone today other than religious fanatics), should not marry according to Jewish law so there won’t be a question of mamzeros
5) and again, if you hold that by the groom giving a ring to the bride and saying the right words makes a kosher marriage even if they have no intention of being married according to Torah, then most non-frum Jews are mamzerim already. If you hold that living together as a couple in a de facto marriage constitutes a valid marriage according to halacha, then virtually all non-frum Jews are mamzerim — if you hold that Jewish marriage requires daas to be married according to halacha, there isn’t a problem (but in that case, who cares if the Israeli government recognizes civil marriages)
#7 – if the army is so frum, why is there an issue of female soldiers being told to get abortions so they can finish military service and avoid the sanctions for dropping out – and indeed, why does the matter come up.
Yes, they have “frum” units. Just like the Americans had “colored” units. If you would have been happy as a “Buffalo soldier”, you might find joy in “frum” unit (of course they won’t make you enforce the law against Jews, so they disarm them at times).
When you hear the ultra-seculars complain that there kid went into the Air Force or the Paratroopers and came back with beard and peyous, you’ll know there has been a big change. It hasn’t happened yet.