The long-simmering crisis over Israel’s proposed draft law has reached a boiling point. In a dramatic late-night meeting on Monday, the leaders of Degel HaTorah- HaGaon Rav Dov Landau shlit”a and HaGaon Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlit”a-declared that they will support a motion to dissolve the Knesset this Wednesday, potentially triggering new elections and threatening the survival of the current government.
During an in-depth conversation between the two Gedolei Yisroel, it was determined that, in the absence of a finalized and acceptable version of the draft law, the chareidi parties have no reason to remain in the coalition.
Rav Hirsch reportedly said, “If there is no progress on the law, we have no choice but to push for the dissolution of the Knesset.” Rav Landau was even more forceful, warning, “When those who learn Torah are persecuted—it is a greater danger than Iran.”
Degel HaTorah stressed that if an acceptable draft of the law is presented and practical discussions begin in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the decision could be reconsidered. However, if no progress is made, Degel is expected to join Agudas Yisroel in supporting the dissolution bill on Wednesday.
The Sephardic Shas party also signaled a shift in position. Party spokesman Asher Medina said Tuesday morning that Shas, too, would support dissolving the Knesset due to the stalemate over the draft legislation. Last week, the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisroel formally announced its support for early elections.
If no last-minute agreement is reached, the preliminary vote on the dissolution of the Knesset is expected to pass with a large majority. The bill would then move to the Knesset Committee, followed by additional procedures before final approval in second and third readings.
Adding an international dimension to the crisis, Channel 13 News reported that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee personally reached out to Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch. Huckabee reportedly warned that holding elections at this time—while the Iranian threat and Houthi aggression from Yemen dominate the security agenda—would make it significantly harder for Washington to back Israel in any major operations.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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3 Responses
Hard to understand….
The government passing a law will not resolve the problem. This is because the Israeli supreme court ruled that a law that exempts torah students from the draft is invalid as it is against the idea of equality, that all people deserve to be treated equally under the law. And because the IDF claims they need the troops they will side with the court and continue to draft yeshiva students. The only difference may be that the government could possibly defy the supreme court and recognize yeshiva students are not in defiance of the law so they will start giving money to yeshivohs again. So the question is whether the main issue here is money, or the fact that yeshiva students are technically subject to arrest. That despite the fact that in reality nobody is arrested unless they go to the airport and attempt to leave the country, the issue is they don’t like the fact that torah students are technically “criminals.”
Every factor combined together whether yes or no dissolve government, is not even fractionaly as important, as what is best to bring immediate safe release of every single hostage.
If this means keeping the current government, then that is what is necessary right now.
If this means getting Ithamar ben Gvir to head next government & be Tough, then that is what is necessary right now.