During the Knesset plenum discussion on the draft bill on Tuesday, 9 Adar II Minister of Senior Citizen Affairs (Bayit Yehudi) Uri Orbach attacked chareidi MKs and Shas rabbonim.
The vehemently anti-chareidi minister explained “The apocalypse is coming true before our eyes, the coalition of the opposition; The wolf (ze’ev) will live alongside the Ahmed Tibi, Litzman and Zahalka”, mocking MK (Shas) Nissim Ze’ev, MK (Ra’am-Ta’al) Dr. Ahmed Tibi, and the other opposition MKs who were seated in outside with the opposition as they are boycotting the votes. “It is mamosh Moshiach time. MK Deri espouses lavish flattery on MK Herzog, expressing his hope that he becomes prime minister. MK (Meretz) Zahava Gal-On, whose photo cannot appear in any chareidi newspaper, she will be in a coalition with Yahadut Hatorah and they will agree on the draft and everything else. What a pretense, whiners and self-pity, they missed the Oscars week”.
Regarding the bill to draft chareidim into the IDF, the minister stated “They cry like they are being taken in tanks from Bnei Brak to Tel Hashomer, but what they are saying outside is quite different from what is said internally. MK Gafne said in an internal forum ‘we do not regret joining the Shaked Committee for until 2017 nothing will happen regarding the draft and even afterwards nothing will occur. If there will be too much praise from here someone will want to change this before it reaches the Knesset plenum. MK Ariel Atias said today that no more than 7% of the chareidim will be inducted. The chareidi MKs are so happy with this law they should be doing it alone, by themselves and they would more or less have arrived at the same law. What a show and what lies”.
Orbach continued explaining that while the chareidi lawmakers are very familiar with the details of the draft law the readers of their newspapers are not. He warned the chareidi MKs fear if the constituents read the details they will not oppose the law.
As he ended his remarks he attacked Shas rabbonim, whom of late has come out harshly against Bayit Yehudi. “Instead of the talmidim of Rav Ovadia inheriting the greatness in Torah and seforim, they inherited mostly the invective.
Regarding hesder yeshivot, he praised them and their dedication, turning to MK (Labor) Stav Shafir saying “One serving 36 months in the BaMachane Magazine cannot come down on one serving for 17 months in a true military camp and risks his life”.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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7 Responses
Bayit Yehudi may have painted itself into a corner. They, and many secular Israelis (though the Religious Zionists should have know better) thought that most Hareidi yeshiva students were “chicken hawks” who supported the ultra-nationalist agenda and were dependent on government money — and instead discovered that many of them were anti-zionists who would have no trouble allying with the left (or even the Arabs) on security issues, and were supporting themnselves with overseas money and from the “informal economy” within the hareidi community. By cutting ties with the hareidim, they created an enemy that is likely to ally with their enemies in parliament. And on top of it, it isn’t clear how much the “rank and file” within the Dati Leumi and Modern Orthodox approve of the war on the hareidim
Although most of what he said completely misses the boat, there’s one thing that’s right on the money.
The leftist shout of “sharing the burden” is the pinnacle of hypocrisy. The overwhelmingly vast majority of the families in places like North Tel Aviv don’t have one single child serving in either combat or strategic units, unless you consider the Galei Tzahal radio station or BaMachaneh magazine as strategy…
Although I think Deri is the cause of much of the current divisiveness out there Uri has essentially just mimic his style by being equally divisive and also incredibly unhelpful. By calling out Haredim for behaving badly by behaving badly has to be the worst approach so far for reducing tension and coming to a reasonable compromise.
EY MOM; mmmmm….can you please explain why “almost all he says misses the boat…” except the statement you mention about hypocrisy. Is it because you don’t agree with what he says? Where is the hypocrisy of the chareidi leadership of crying wolf? Come on, if you don’t accept Orbach, so be it, but don’t pick and choose!
who cares what these ppl say
“vehemently anti-chareidi minister”—-Inaccurate, dishonest and typical Rhetoric to describe anyone that has a different point of view..
AND no one finds it odd to see SHAS, UTJ and AGUDAH become bosom buddies with the Arabs and left-wing parties?
Cmon now, we Americans are appalled at this new hashkafa and so are the residents of Kiryat Sefer, Beitar and Ramat Eshkol who are not looking to live under Arab sovereignty.
AND no one finds it odd to see SHAS, UTJ and AGUDAH become bosom buddies with the Arabs and left-wing parties?
What’s odd about it? In terms of “bread and butter” issues, the hareidim are clearly to the left of Labor, and closer to the Communists (i.e. pro-welfare state, unconcerned about fiscal responsibility in government). If economics were the only issue, it would be a natural alliance.
Many upper class hilonim don’t want to serve in the IDF either, and most Arabs don’t. Thus the “left” is the place to look for an alliance to end conscription. And remember it was the “right” that champions the idea that military service is the new religion, and Torah is an old fashioned waste of time. Abolishing conscription is the only option that lets hareidim stay in Eretz Yisrael (other than supporting an Arab takeover).
As the “right” wants to kick the hareidim out of the West Bank, and the rest of Eretz Yisrael, I don’t see your point. Your friends should have realized that before they declared war on the hareidim.
In terms of peace, putting Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan under Arab sovereignity is an idea favored only by Satmar and maybe the two non-communist Arab parties, but it might work if Israel switches to the middle eastern idea of sovereignity which allows for ethnic and regional governments with “militias” (even nuclear armed ones).