In recent days, opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu has been making efforts to solve the continuing crisis between Degal HaTorah and Agudas Yisrael, with Degel HaTorah’s threat of running independently from Agudas Yisrael still looming.

Netanyahu is very worried as polls predict that if the two parties run independently, Agudas Yisrael won’t succeed in passing the threshold, which will end up wasting right-wing votes and harming Netanyahu’s chances of forming a government.

On Sunday night, Netanyahu met with Agudas Yisrael’s new Gerrer representative Yitzchak Goldknopf and last week he meet with Belzer representative Meir Porush. According to a Yisrael Hayom report on Monday morning, Netanyahu also tried to arrange a meeting with Degel HaTorah MKs but HaGaon HaRav Gershon Edelstein instructed them not to meet the former prime minister.

The Rosh Yeshivah sent a message to the MKs saying that Netanyahu should not interfere with the dispute between Degel HaTorah and Agudas Yisrael. Those close to the Rosh Yeshivah said that Netanyahu’s intervention can only be harmful since the issues stem from an ideological dispute regarding chinuch and are not politically based.

As YWN reported last month, the major issue that may lead to a split between Degal HaTorah and Agudas Yisrael is an agreement between the Belzer chassidus and the state to increase the hours spent on math and English in its chedarim in exchange for increased government funding. HaRav Edelstein is fervently opposed to any state involvement in Chareidi chinuch and is extremely concerned over possible future implications of the deal to all strata of Chareidi society.

However, the two parties scheduled a date to begin negotiations on a joint run based on the understanding that Belz would not carry through with the agreement, and an alternative solution would be found for the chassidus in a new government as a threshold condition for entering it. But last week, the Education Ministry published an official announcement about its agreement with Belz, which caused a huge uproar and the cancellation of negotiations, upon the instructions of the Rosh Yeshivah.

A Degel HaTorah MK told Kikar H’Shabbat that HaRav Edelstein said that the independence of Chareidi chinuch cannot be placed at risk. “Achdus is an important thing but not at this price,” the Rosh Yeshivah said.

The plan bases the budget of chadarim on the number of classes in Hebrew, math and English. Additionally, ominous clauses in the plan cede control of the enforcement of the plan to the Education Ministry and essentially cedes control of the chadarim that sign the agreement to the Education Ministry.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)