Was MK Yisrael Eichler's victory as a Knesset representative on the Committee for the Appointment of Judges predictable?
It turns out that his assistant, Chaim Rabinowitz, wasn't surprised. Last Monday, when I spoke with him, he seemed confident in the boss's victory.
Let us recall that Monday was the peak day of the struggle between Eichler and MK Moshe Gafni, who had not yet withdrawn his candidacy and insisted on continuing 'until the last moment.'.
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Senior Degel officials also went on record saying: "Eichler has no chance of being elected to the committee. This is a secret personal election. What Ze'ev Elkin promised Eichler or didn't promise him - won't really help him behind the curtain. There's nothing to compare the sympathy that the Knesset has for Gafni to that for Eichler. We estimate that Gafni will also have members in the opposition who will support him - and Eichler will not. Therefore, if Eichler is our representative, there will be no Haredi representative on the important committee.".
But, on the page that I placed in front of him in the MK cafeteria, Rabinowitz pledged that Eichler would win.
Only on Tuesday, after receiving an instruction from Rabbi Steinman, did Gafni withdraw his candidacy. This was because Rabbi Steinman considered it important that an ultra-Orthodox representative be elected to the committee - even if he was from Agudat Israel. Gafni was forced to resign.
This morning, upon being elected by an overwhelming majority of 97 Knesset members, MK Yisrael Eichler said that he wants to study the problems in the rabbinical court system in the coming days. This is so that he can mobilize for the benefit of both the judges and the litigants.
""We will not be satisfied with appointing judges who are lacking in the existing standards, but will work in the Knesset to add additional standards. Only in this way can we ease the unbearable burdens," said Eichler. In this way, we will sanctify the name of heaven in refuting the claims of judicial torture and delay, which arise solely because of the failure to appoint judges. Judges are collapsing from work and piles of cases are accumulating in the courts, which are in impossible conditions.".
Eichler thanked all the MKs from the coalition and the opposition who supported him from all parties, "which proves the sympathy for the representatives of United Torah Judaism, who carry the word of God on high, without bending over the thorn of a Yod.".
Eichler also sent a 'sting' when he noted "the dedication and hard work of my movement members who worked hard to achieve the large number of MKs who supported me across parties.".
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There may be a hint in the words that the MKs from the Lithuanian faction of United Torah Judaism did not really make an effort for him.
It is also understandable why. The members of Degel HaTorah are walking around with a full stomach on the members of the Agudat Yisrael faction, who are huddled together with them under one party umbrella.
