In its discussions upon the presentation of the new
Government, Chairman of UTJ, Rabbi Meir Porush, said, "Our
misgivings and fears regarding the Government -- whose
dominant component is Meretz and is also conspicuously
comprised of other factions which are not fond of Jewish
tradition, to say the least -- overrides our obligation to
extend Barak our congratulations at this time. In an
exceptional way, we are receiving nothing in exchange for our
having joined the Coalition. Instead the opposite is true: we
are paying a very heavy price. It was not by chance that we
refrained from accepting executive positions.
"We had to struggle very hard over every single word and
letter on the ideological issues, and the final draft
contains only a minimal amount of what we had hoped to
achieve. This is the truth, and it should be said, even if it
is said with much pain and with a heart filled with fears and
misgivings.
"We hope that the Prime Minister will be able to recruit a
majority on the crucial day on which the Knesset will have to
vote for the amendment enabling the deferment of the military
service of yeshiva students as long as they are still within
the category of Torasom umanusom. Our struggle to save
the yeshivos stems from a sense of responsibility for the
physical fate of the entire Jewish Nation. Without the
yeshiva world, the Torah will, cholila, not be
transmitted from generation to generation in the manner in
which it has been transmitted throughout our history. Without
the transmission of Torah, the number of those who study it
will, cholila, be decreased, as will the number of
those who observe its mitzvos. Without shomrei
mitzvos, even other Jews won't remain -- not even those
who do not observe the laws. The yeshiva world is the root of
our existence as a nation and we will not forego this
existence nor compromise it," Rabbi Porush said.
Later on, Rabbi Porush said that the UTJ representatives will
be the Government's "brakes" regarding any breach of
religious issues. He once more pointed out, "Currently, the
question which eats away at our hearts is: will Yossi Sarid,
as Education Minster, be a duplicate of the former
blasphemous, atheistic Minister who denied the existence of
the Creator of the world? Will his colleague, Ran Cohen, in
his capacity as Commerce and Industry Minister, take
advantage of his ministerial authorities in order to
cholila encourage Shabbos desecration and the
trampling of the sacred day in shopping malls and industries?
We will test the Prime Minster every day hour, regarding the
respect the Government accords Jewish tradition, because he
has a certain record, which all of us remember only too
well."
