UTJ leaders -- with backing from the Likud -- have called a
special session of the Knesset this Wednesday to debate the
Prime Minister's decision to move a massive 300-ton turbine
component for the Israel Electric Company from Ramat Hasharon
to Ashkelon on last Shabbos. The special session, which can
be called by 30 members of Knesset, will also discuss various
other topics.
Meanwhile, the Electric Corporation says it has drawn up
alternate plans that would enable moving such huge cargoes
during the week from the manufacturing plant in Ramat
Hasharon to the new power station in Ashkelon, to avoid
further Shabbos desecration.
Those plans, said corporation officials, involve moving the
huge turbine components in stages over three days, from
midnight until four in the morning, and then parking the
gigantic devices in specially prepared lots until the next
night. The components take up three lanes of highway and can
be moved only at a 5-10 km/hour pace, taking at least 12
hours for the total 80 kilometer trip. The trip last Shabbos
took 13 hours.
According to police and transportation officials, however, no
such plan was given to them before the decision was made last
Thursday to move the cargo on Friday night. A senior police
source said, "We looked for months at various alternatives .
. . and the conclusion was that the least amount of damage
would be caused by moving the component on Friday night." The
sources claimed that police and the electric company had
spent over NIS 300,000 on the planning for the move.
MK Meir Porush won support from the Likud for his petition
for a special session. The Likud also recruited Yisrael
Beitenu, headed by MK Avigdor Lieberman and the National
Unity party's Rechavam Ze'evi to back the UTJ petition.
Likud MK Reuven Rivlin defended his party's decision to back
the chareidi party's complaint by saying that "irrespective
of the subject, the Likud feels duty-bound to help any
coalition partner that feels slighted, to raise the subject
for debate."
Barak told Shas ministers that the decision to move the
turbine part on Shabbos was not an attempt to defeat them in
a secular-religious battle, but that the journey was
undertaken at that time because professionals had decided it
was the safest and most economical time. However, UTJ
politicians disputed this.
UTJ MKs Speak
MK Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz said that the Prime Minister had
misled the chareidi community and "fooled us." MK Rabbi Gafni
said that the UTJ would not remain silent. The chareidi MKs
said that this is further proof that the image of Ehud Barak
as a trustworthy person has no basis. Barak, they said, is a
person who feeds his coalition partners with lies. They said
that the announcements leading up to the move, and the
sudden, late-Friday decision to go ahead on Shabbos, clearly
indicated the bad-faith of the prime minister.
Rabbi Ravitz said that the entire affair constitutes,
"extraordinary chutzpah. There is a coalition which
includes on 27 religious MKs. What would have happened if he
had waited a few more days until the alternative proposed by
experts was examined? The police didn't check, because its
hands were tied by the past. The honor of Shabbos isn't
linked to the cost of living index. There is no such thing as
`impossible.' Of course it is possible."
Rabbi Ravitz added that, "There was total fraud here. All day
Friday, until the late afternoon, they said that they would
consider the other options. However just before Shabbos, they
announced that they decided to transfer the turbine on
Shabbos, knowing that we couldn't fight the decision so close
to Shabbos. This was a plunder, a ruse, and a blatant display
of contempt for one's partners, beyond the contempt of
Shabbos kodesh.
"Barak could easily have made a decision not to transfer the
turbine on Shabbos too. But he wanted to `teach the religious
a lesson.' It doesn't matter whether they moved large loads
in the past or not. The questions are: Does the State of
Israel respect the sanctity of Shabbos or not? Is it led by
the fascist Shinui party or does it consider the feelings of
the mitzva-observant public? On this issue, the Government
and its head failed abysmally.
"Since the foundation of the State, the secular sector has
been systematically trying to make the State less Jewish. At
first there was a "status quo," then they began to erode it,
saying that there is a new status quo, `because we broke it.'
The status quo has continually been eroded. Now, anyone who --
even legally -- forces stores to close on Shabbos is breaking
the status quo, because the lawbreakers have opened stores on
Shabbos, and the police back them. That's the way it is in
every area. They make a new status quo, and we wonder why
Israeli society is becoming non-Jewish. They aim to transform
it into a non-Jewish State.
"Ehud Barak is exploiting the fact that for us the most
precious ideal is `Yavneh and its sages,' the lomdei
haTorah, and he is playing with us and taking advantage
of our good will and innocence, for the purpose of
secularizing the State," Rabbi Ravitz said. UTJ has announced
that its main goal is the protection of the exemption from
army duty of the yeshiva students.
MK Rabbi Gafni said: "The Prime Minister fooled us. Barak
claims that he isn't involved in the matter, while all along
he issues announcements which back the decision. He didn't
check to see if there were other alternatives.
"On Sunday we were supposed to present alternative proposals:
why was it so urgent for him to announce his decision before
Shabbos? This is an unprecedented act. Never was there a
prime minister who backed such a matter in so deceitful a
manner.
"We were led to believe that the turbine wouldn't be moved on
Shabbos, and then they made the decision so close to Shabbos
that we wouldn't have time to oppose the move."
Friday's Events
Early on Friday, it seemed as if the police had backed down
from their intention to transfer the turbine on Shabbos,
especially since the Public Works Department had announced on
Thursday that it had not received work permits from the Labor
and Welfare Ministry, and that as a result, its personnel
could not participate in the transfer of the turbine.
The spokesperson for the Traffic Police said that police
could not assume responsibility for the transfer of the
turbine without the presence of Public Works engineers, since
lampposts and traffic signs would have to be dismantled, and
bridges and sidewalks had to be safeguarded.
Later on Friday morning, the Public Works Department
announced that it was not necessary for it to accompany the
convoy, in contradiction to what it had said the day
before.
The PWD added that although its personnel sometimes
accompanies an unusually large installation, this is not
always the case.
The Electric Company has prepared plans for two alternative
routes for the transfer of the turbine on a weekday. The
alternatives were prepared by an experienced professional
team appointed by the Electric Company.
One of the alternatives was to transfer it on the original
route as it was taken last Shabbos -- which included the main
roads from Ramat Hasharon --and then via the road to
Ashkelon.
The second alternative was to use secondary roads, and
included solutions to the problem of the heavy loads on the
side roads and the bridges along the route.
In both alternatives, the turbine part was supposed to travel
for three consecutive nights, while parking during certain
hours of the day in order not to disrupt the traffic flow.
This would have meant traveling four hours a night, and a
total of 12 hours from Ramat Hasharon to the power station in
Ashkelon.
The Shameful Event
The turbine component left the Israel Military Industries in
Ramat Hasharon, where it was built, at the start of Shabbos,
and arrived at the Rottenberg power station near Ashkelon on
Shabbos morning after a 13 hour journey. The huge part
arrived at the gate of the power station, but was only
unloaded on Sunday.
Scores of people gathered near the junctions and the bridges
in order to watch the turbine as it moved along the country's
roads.
The chillul Hashem was great. The new government
transformed its Shabbos desecration into a festival and a
triumph over the Shabbos observers. On the sides of the roads
stood incited chilonim, cheering and clapping their
hands with glee. They called day of the turbine procession,
the "Independence Day of the Secularists." They behaved like
they do on Israel Independence Day, and flanked the roads
along which the convoy proceeded with Israeli flags in their
hands.
The political left crowed over their "victory." Yossi Sarid
expressed "satisfaction at the triumph of common sense and
reason over the antics of a minister or party or inter-party
considerations. The Government proved that it is able to
withstand blackmail, and that threats don't work," Sarid
added.
Tel Aviv police massed forces at the Bar Ilan and Bnei Brak
junctions as the turbine passed, lest religious residents try
to stop the convoy. Rumors were spread that religious people
would try desperately to stop the transport, but they all
turned out to be false.
Shabbos is a Communal Value
Eli Landau, chairman of the board of the Israel Electric
Corporation, dared to say a number of things which are often
left unsaid. "Throughout my entire career of public service,"
he said, "I have staunchly believed that, with respect to
important matters such as those which are dear to religious
citizens, it's best to negotiate and to avoid excessive
tension and rifts. The electric company belongs to the
religious community too.
"I believe that public Shabbos observance is a traditional
Jewish value of which we should be proud as long as it
doesn't intrude on the private citizen and isn't forced on
him. I repeat, that the electric company, Israel Military
Industries and all of the other involved bodies could have
transferred the turbine during the week, without hurting the
pubic at large," he said.
Wasn't the battle over the turbine futile from the
start?
Rabbi Gafni answers: "Was the struggle a wise one? We had to
protest. True, this isn't the first time that something like
this has happened. But this is the first time since the
founding of the State that the Prime Minister has intervened
so blatantly in such an affair, and in so contrary a
manner.
"True, in the past there were cases like this, and I was
involved in some of them. Some of the installations which
were supposed to be transferred on Shabbos, were in the end
transferred on weekdays. We didn't always know about the
intention to transfer installations in advance, and weren't
always able to avert such designs.
"What is different this time? First of all the proportion.
Hundreds of people worked on Shabbos -- police, electric
company employees, movers, the PWD. And besides all them
there was the media. They made a grand festival of the whole
affair.
"But there's another, more serious side to the affair. Days
before the actual transfer, the media announced time and
again which sections of the roads would be closed on Shabbos,
and at what times. For anyone seeking to understand the
meaning of the word parhesia, this is the most vivid
example possible. Are Jews permitted to remain silent in the
face of such public Shabbos desecration?
"For some reason, the transfer of the turbine became a
personal ambition of the Prime Minster," Rabbi Gafni said.
"He knew that there are good and inexpensive alternatives.
What should he have done? He should have waited until the
Sunday, and then examined the alternate proposals of experts
in the field. He did not have to rely on Jews like us who are
prepared to pay a high price for Shabbos observance."
When Barak won the elections, he was given the benefit of the
doubt. The declarations which he made after his elections
were promising. He declared he would be "Everyone's Prime
Minster." He made quite a number of promises to the chareidi
parties. What happened in the end? Nothing.
"The Prime Minster fooled us," Rabbi Gafni, said clearly.
"The chareidi community, and the sanctity of Shabbos were
stabbed in the back."
"The gedolei HaTorah have lost all confidence in the
Prime Minster," Rabbi Gafni says. "They view him as one who
doesn't tell the truth.
"This desecration of Shabbos not only pertains to every Jew,
but constitutes a huge stumbling block. From the moment the
scheme to transfer the turbine on Shabbos began to brew,
religious and traditional Shabbos observing Jews couldn't be
employed by the electric company and in other involved
companies. There were others who were either accepted to work
or remained on their jobs and stumbled. They couldn't
withstand the nisoyon. After all, their livelihood was
at stake. The transfer of the turbine isn't a one-time event.
Now they're talking about additional transfers in the near
future.
The decision was made just before Shabbos. How do you
explain this?
"This was a well planned stratagem intended to undermine us
and the Shabbos. There is an ideological battle here, an open
chasm between us and them, and when they win, the
celebrate.
"But what are they celebrating? What happened? A turbine was
moved on Shabbos? That's a cause for a second Independence
Day? That's a reason to buy plastic hammers?
"The Admor of Vishnitz told us not to yield, but to fight
with all our might. Had we given up the fight when this
business which they call a "state" began 51 years ago, there
would hardly be any religious or chareidi Jews here today.
Today, 90% of the Israelis in the country don't eat
chometz on Pesach. If we hadn't remained, no more than
10% would currently be keeping Shabbos and kashrus. We have a
responsibility to Klal Yisroel."
The chareidi parties, Rabbi Gafni hopes, will do what is
incumbent on them. "We will follow the guidelines of the
gedolei haTorah," he says. "Shas, it is hoped, will go
along with us. Will we remain in the coalition? That's still
not clear. What is clear, is that we'll have a rough time. We
won't gain anything easily; but neither will they."
The Religious Lobby of the Knesset Protests
This past Monday, the Knesset's Religious Lobby convened to
express its deep shock over the public Shabbos desecration
caused by the transfer of the turbine.
The meeting was attended by 20 ministers, deputy ministers
and MKs from the religious parties. The first speaker was the
chairman of the religious lobby, MK Rabbi Shmuel Halpert. He
said that the transfer of the turbine was a inordinate
provocation against the religious community, since
alternatives had been proposed by the chairman and director
general of the electric company, and the turbine could have
been transferred on a weekday.
MK Rabbi Halpert said that according to the experts, the
turbine could have been transferred in stages, and if not for
the strange and stubborn insistence of biased parities, the
tremendous chillul Shabbos would have been averted.
Now, in light of the fact that the electric company plans to
transfer additional turbines, the Prime Minister and all
those involved in the affair must know that we will not
remain silent in face of the trampling of Shabbos
kodesh.
Rabbi Halpert praised the Infrastructure Minister, Eli
Suissa, for leading the battle to prevent the massive Shabbos
desecration.
Minister Suissa, then presented the alternatives prepared by
professionals in the field, among them Rafi Peled, the
director general of the electricity company, who was once the
Police Inspector General and is familiar with all of the
problems involved in transferring large installations.
The Labor and Welfare Minister, Eli Yishai, reported on the
efforts of his ministry, saying that it wrote to the company
which transferred the turbine and warned it not to employ
workers on Shabbos without a permit, in violation of the Work
and Rest Law.
MK Rabbi Meir Porush, the chairman of UTJ, said that it is
claimed that the former government also transferred large
installations on Shabbos. He remarked: "First of all, today
there is an Infrastructure Minister who is concerned about
the issue. Second of all, we didn't know that, and had we
known, we would have prevented the transfer."
All of the speakers expressed disgust over the contempt and
the deceit of the Prime Minister and his advisors, and of the
disregard of the Internal Security Minister, of the fact that
the Police backed the violation of the of the law perpetrated
by the company which transferred the turbine without all the
proper work permits.
