Top: The meeting forming the group; Bottom: Political leaders of UTJ and Shas at the meeting
In response to the intense program of the current Israeli government to wield a blow against all that is holy and precious to the Jewish people by promoting reforms and laws to strip it of its very authentic character, an emergency meeting was held this past Monday, joining the Degel HaTorah and Shas parties to plan steps to counteract the government's schemes. This government is indeed the most threatening to Judaism since the very establishment of the State since it seeks to absolutely separate religion from state and obliterate every spark of Judaism therein.
The two parties unanimously agreed to establish a nerve center for a united battle under the banner "Do Not Destroy the Jewish State." It will include representation from both parties, and the battle will be waged together with the Religious Zionist and Likud parties.
The headquarters will mobilize all factions interested in joining the wide spectrum public fight to rally to the cry of the Jewish nation's pain, here and in the Diaspora, standing as one solid bloc against the devastating ruin being enacted by the government.
The head of Degel HaTorah, Rabbi Moshe Gafni, gave an acerbic speech at this special meeting in which he said, "A cultural war is being waged full force. It is not a political fight but an ideological one. This government has two prime goals: to fight against Netanyahu and to separate religion from the State."
According to Gafni, "They are doing everything in their power to strike against everything connected to religion, to fight against everything we stand for vigilantly ever since the establishment of the state so that Jews can live here. They are gambling for the whole pot, not sufficing with a partial victory, racing at high velocity. Just now they succeeded in passing the law of conversion in a ministerial committee whereby any Zionist 'rabbi' or 'rosh yeshiva' will be authorized to perform a conversion. This is illegal. No attorney general would support this but this is apparently irrelevant. They act arbitrarily with no one standing in their way. They are eliminating kashrus with the help of an MK who is a vegetarian."
Rabbi Gafni stressed: "History will judge us. We are not to blame but it is happening during our tenure. We find ourselves in the Opposition together with Jews who are for Judaism and Jewish tradition, and our obligation is to fight with all our might. I am asked why I speak so bitterly. It is because we are fighting a war. We have to remove our gloves and storm full force. The battle is whether we can let Jews live here or not. It is a kultur kampf and we shall fight it with every means. We will shout to the skies and address the entire world so that all know that we are not indifferent, so that History not misjudge us in having allowed this to happen without our reaction. We will not stop at the most drastic measure."
MK Rabbi Uri Maklev said: "We must state the issue in its full starkness. We must assemble all of the communities and factions in the country and separate between the political issue and the battle against Jewish tradition. This fight is not political and if we succeed in conveying the messages and the public at large will refuse to institute all of their reforms and schemes, it will be a fitting success."
MK Rabbi Yaakov Asher said: "If the government will continue to promote its reforms against religion, if it will remove the rabbinate, will enact its reform regarding the Kosel, the traditional sector will begin to understand the danger. I am aware that the government is wary of the idea that two million traditional and chareidi citizens will fill the streets in protest of the destructive idea of dividing the Kosel, and will take the proper steps if they are pressured."
