Hours before the deadline for submitting Knesset candidate lists, dozens of Rabbanim, bereaved families and terror victims appealed to Ofer Winter, chairman of the Amcha Yisrael party, demanding that he form a technical bloc with right-wing parties or withdraw his candidacy, warning that his insistence on running alone could usher in a left-wing government.
“This week will determine whether the right goes into the upcoming elections with united forces or, chalilah, divided,” the Rabbanim wrote.
“We call on Ofer Winter to take responsibility and act promptly to continue the important work of Religious Zionism chairman, Minister Betzalel Smotrich, toward unity in the right-wing camp. Achdut is always good, and certainly when great dangers to Klal Yisrael lie on the other side.
“Ofer, certainty is preferable to uncertainty. One must not take risks when it concerns Klal Yisrael,” they ominously concluded.
Among the signatories are Rabbi Eitan Eisman, head of the Tzvia educational institutions; Rabbi David Chai HaKohen, Rosh Yeshiva of Orot HaTorah in Bat Yam; Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, rabbi of the Shomron and president of the Elon Moreh institutions; Rabbi Shabtai Sabato, Rosh Yeshiva of Mitzpe Yericho; Rabbi Yehuda Sadan, Rosh Yeshiva of the Bnei David Yeshiva Gedolah in Eli; Rabbi David Fendel, Rosh Yeshiva of the Hesder Yeshiva in Sderot; Rabbi Shlomo Rosenfeld, Rosh Yeshiva of the Shadmot Mechola Hesder Yeshiva; Rabbi Yehoshua Shapira, Rosh Yeshiva of Ramat Gan; Rabbi David Turgeman, Rosh Yeshiva of Dimona; and Rabbi David Turner, Rosh Yeshiva of Nachalat Binyamin in Gal Yosef.
A group of bereaved families and terror victims also issued a public appeal to Winter, demanding that he form a technical bloc with right-wing parties or withdraw his candidacy.
“We are writing to you from a place from which there is no return — families whose loved ones were murdered in the waves of terror that followed Oslo,” the letter states. “We are not speaking in theory and we are not engaging in politics. We carry the price in our bodies, every morning anew, for years. Oslo was not a ‘diplomatic move’; it was a disaster, a national disaster, a disaster and Zionist destruction, and a terrible betrayal of parts of our homeland.
“But beyond that, Oslo became the disaster of thousands of families who lost a son, a daughter, a father, a mother, and in some cases families who lost several family members together: on buses, in explosions, in the streets, in shooting attacks, with explosive devices, with axes, and in a host of other horrific deaths. Oslo is the disaster of thousands of people wounded in body and soul who carry the burden of the disaster every day. Among us are quite a few families whose loved ones were murdered by members of the Palestinian police itself, the very armed police force that the terrible agreement established with its own hands and armed with weapons aimed at our hearts.”
“One simple thing gave birth to this disaster: division. In 1992, the national camp split, votes fell below the electoral threshold, and the left rose to power by a tiny margin and brought Oslo. A small, almost technical split, with consequences that remain irreparable to this day. And now you are about to do it again. Do not play roulette with the lives of our country. You have no right, moral or otherwise, to gamble with the lives of millions of Jews in order to test your strength.”
“If you believe you have the ability to bring about change, there is one straightforward path: Form a technical bloc with another party or parties on the right. After the election, the factions can split if the need arises, and from there prove what you are capable of doing. Demonstrate your abilities in a place where your failure will not bring all of us down.”
“Because if you fail and we all pay the price, you will never be able to say, ‘I was mistaken,’ ‘No one warned me,’ or ‘I meant well.’ You have been warned here, in black and white, by those who have already paid the highest price of all. A Palestinian state established in the heart of Eretz Yisrael, on the fault line you created, will be recorded in your name, and your name alone. Please, withdraw from this adventure while there is still time. Do not drag the State of Israel into the abyss out of ‘good intentions.’ Do not add even one more name to the enormous list of bereaved families.”
Among the signatories are Yoram and Carmit Ettinger, parents of Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, Hy”d, and grandparents of Captain Harel Ettinger, Hy”d; Tamar Ettinger, widow of Rabbi Achiad, Hy”d; Mordechai and Miriam Dimentman, parents of Yehuda Dimentman, Hy”d; Devorah Gonen, mother of Danny Gonen, Hy”d; Shalom and Esti Yaniv, parents of Hallel and Yagel Yaniv, Hy”d; Eitan and Shira Schnerb, parents of Rina Schnerb, Hy”d; Hadas Mizrachi, widow of Chief Superintendent Baruch Mizrachi, Hy”d; Itzik Pass, father of Shalhevet Pass, Hy”d; and Boaz Kokia, father of Sergeant Ron Kokia, Hy”d, alongside a long list of additional bereaved family members.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
