Another parliamentary week ended in a stalemate on the part of the coalition, due to the decision of the ultra-Orthodox factions to boycott the votes until a conscription law is submitted that will regulate the status of Torah students.
Dormitory discount, monthly stipend: Won't you consider an opportunity to join civil service?
In a conversation with Shiloh Fried in Yedioth Ahronoth, Minister of Religious Services Michael Malchieli of Shas says: "When a coalition does not vote in favor of its own laws, it is impossible to manage it, but here we are saying to the prime minister that there are things that are very important to us.".
But the issue of recruitment, certainly in the current period, is more sensitive.
""True, I agree, but there was always some excuse - Gallant, the war. But ultimately it is important to us that the legal framework of 'His Teachings and His Art' be regulated.".
"And is there anything that would cause you to break up a coalition if it doesn't progress?" he was asked.
""If anyone on the left is counting on us to hand him the government on a silver platter, he is wrong" - and dismissed predictions of the government's downfall due to the crisis over the conscription law.
Alongside this, he clarifies: "Those who brought us into the coalition are the Torah gurus, the rabbis. As soon as they tell us otherwise – we will do differently, and we are aware of the complexity. We know there is a war, we do not live in a vacuum, but if the rabbis tell us there are arrests, there is no law and this is the situation – the decision to withdraw will be in their hands.".
To make it a law – which frogs would you agree to swallow? Fried asks.
""In the draft law, we have a team that is knowledgeable in the details and they will answer you. But I will say it in general terms – there is an issue here that a law needs to be admissible in court. On the other hand, we also need a law that the rabbinical councils, ours and United Torah Judaism, will read and not immediately throw out.".
And what is the feasibility of this?
""The truth is – we have the feeling that the legal elements, the gatekeepers, are doing everything full-time to overthrow the law with the goal of overthrowing the government. If we were in another government headed not by Netanyahu but by someone from the opposition – we would receive a much greater legal green light.".
Do you see the reservists who are absent from home for days on end? Do you see the need to expand the circle of recruits? He was asked.
""This is very much before our eyes.".
You don't talk about it. You don't bring it up in public.
Malchieli explains what is done in Haredi society for the IDF: "First of all, in the synagogue, when the Ark is opened, we pray for the peace of the soldiers every time. We treat both the war and the soldiers with reverence, certainly in Shas. But expanding the recruitment circle is a professional issue that has gone into political circles.
"Do you have a discussion about how to recruit those who are not studying, for example?" Fried asked.
""In the rooms that talk about the draft law, they talk about everything.".
We hear the rabbis. They say that even those who don't study are forbidden from enlisting. Is there anything to talk about at all?
""I will never criticize a rabbi. Understand, we have families who vote for Shas and lost sons in the war, people we know well; on the other hand, the world of Torah is dear to us.".
Join the Haredim 10 Facebook page >>
Join the X page of Haredim 10 >>
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
