By Ted Belman
Shas fears that Netanyahu will form a centre-left coalition which will threatedn the Jewish nature of the state. Last time Likud did this Shas was left out of the coalition
It just asked PM Netanyahu to sign a treaty which includes four main principles as the basis to “maintaining the existence of the State of Israel as the Jewish nation’s state.”
The treaty calls
1. to protect the secular-religious status quo,
2. to prevent legislation that contradicts Halacha laws and would allow quick conversion to Judaism,
3. to prevent regulation of civil marriage that would “enable intermarriage of Jews with non-Jews,” and
4. to prevent the operation of public transportation on Shabbat.
And what will Shas give in return for those 4 conditions? They must guarantee that their students obey Israeli law and do their compulsory service just as every other young Israeli must. what’s fair is fair.
Comment to Alexis in moderation
@ Alexis:
Jewish survival can be attributed to 2 main factors antisemitism and there being always a small hardcore number of Jews willing to resist Jew Hatred in both the physical and spiritual pressures by the non Jewish world against them.
If we exist as Jews today it’s because of that stalwart minority who throughout history refused to succumb to the pressures to give in and give up.
That’s why there are so few Jews today when mathematically there should be hundreds of millions of Jews. Most Jews Just gave up and joined the majority.
“A Prayer before Going into Battle”:
Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, enthroned on angels! You have commanded us in Your Torah, saying, “Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to wage war against your enemies. Do not be faint-hearted, do not be afraid, do not panic, and do not break ranks before them. God your Lord is the One who is going with you. He will fight for you against your enemies, and He will deliver you.” [Deut.20: 3-4]
…Be now with the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, the messengers of your people, who wage war today against their enemies. Strengthen us and give us courage. Take up our grievances, fight our battles. Fortify, protect, and shield us. Help us. And save us for the sake of Your kindness.
” Zionism devoid of Judaism is an ideology without organs, sinews, and the living pulse of what has always animated the Jewish people: love of G-d, Torah, and the Land of Israel.”
The Clockmaker Theory
G-d has said of and to the Jewish people:
Shas is a political entity totally dependent on the Israeli government’s ATM. To inure that they can supply enough good high paying overnment jobs to their insiders and key loyalists they need to be in any coalition.
Now there is a paradox in the Shas movement. The leadership are mostly if not all Haredim trans-morphed from the Aguda Rav Shach branch where most of them were educated and supported. But most of their constituency and voters (Sephardi Jews) are not all that religious but vote for Shas because of their inherent generational dislike for Ashkenazi Jews especially those on the left who are credited with racial, cultural and religious discrimination from the early days of the State. Those who still feel and believe that such discrimination still exists make up much if not most of the Shas constituency. I live in Shasville and Shas loyalasts are most the most poor, elderly and undereducated. Shas throws at them a lot of services that are appreciated but are funded by the government through Shas. This is like what Hamas and Arab Charities do.
That Deri is seeking Arab Votes is indicative as to where this party stands. Allowing Deri (a convicted fellon) back in the fold and elevating him to the real top political position speaks volumes as to their lack of any moral compass.
Sephardi Jews generally were never Zionists in the European political sense. Most who came here came for religious reasons or were compelled to come because of no choice. Having no political ideology their world views differed from that of the European Jews. On the one side they hated the Arab Muslims and on the other except for Judaism their culture was more middle Eastern than Western in thought and culture.
When Begin opened the Gahal and Likud to Sephardim playing on their emotions of being discrimination and lack of respect by the Mapai and Leftists he gined a large constituency but lost in the process the ideological underpinning of of own Herut party movement. He made the Likud into a Supermarket political party and that weakness is what will eventually destroy the Likud just like the parties to the left.
If you want to destroy Shas before their mentor finally kicks the bucket; cut them off from the government umbilical cord. Sharon and Olmert did it. They must be treated the same as Arab parties. Allowed to exist but not allowed to be part of the decision making or operation of any public institution. IMO they are a racist anachronism that should be allowed to self destruct.
@ NormanF:
Norman wrote, “The Jewish people have survived millenia and preserved their faith without any need for compulsion.”
Not according to the prophets. It has been a constant struggle, right from the beginning and continuously over the millenia, for the Jewish people to preserve their faith–and never more so than right now.
I agree with Shas in principle, if not in the particulars. If Israel were to lose its central defining Covenant that would be the end of it, no external enemies needed.
NormanF Said:
In your dreams. Whatever Shas does is done for their own advantage without having to change a single leopard spot.
Shy Guy Said:
Shas joined the World Zionist Organization not that long ago. They not so much haredi as they are hardalim.
NormanF Said:
Zionist party? Where?
Why would a Zionist party need legislation to keep Israel Jewish?
The Jewish people have survived millenia and preserved their faith without any need for compulsion.
Judaism lives in the hearts of the people; if it dies there, no law can save it.