The coalition agreement between United Torah Judaism and Ehud
Barak's One Israel Party is different. It is a purely
ideological agreement. In all its 11 paragraphs there is not
one mention of jobs for the UTJ Members of Knesset nor of any
material support for the UTJ constituency. All sections deal
only with the vital ideological interests of UTJ and, really,
the Jewish people as a whole: Torah study, respect for the
dead, Shabbos and chinuch.
In the Israeli government system, the Cabinet, led by the
Prime Minister, is the executive arm of the Israeli
government. It approves all policy decisions, and all its
members are, therefore, responsible for what the government
does. In addition, most Cabinet ministers also have executive
responsibility for government functions, known as
"portfolios." These are the government offices that conduct
the day-to-day business of the government in running the
country.
In the previous, Netanyahu government, UTJ had a deputy
minister who was solely responsible for the Ministry of
Housing, since a full minister was not appointed for that
portfolio. A deputy minister also participates in Cabinet
discussions, but not in the voting. Thus his participation
and responsibility for the actions of the government are more
limited. On the other hand, he had effective ministerial
control of the Housing Ministry and was thus able to
influence its actions in the directions and ways desired by
UTJ, subject to the general guidelines of good government and
the large policy decisions approved by the Cabinet. This is
the way the Israeli system works. Being a deputy minister or
a minister is good for the party of the official since he is
able to appoint friends of the party to influential and/or
lucrative positions and, not incidentally, it is also good
for the official himself since it is a prestigious job with a
lot of perks.
Of all this, there was not one word in the agreement reached
between UTJ and One Israel, and it was not even brought up in
the discussions. UTJ will support the coalition but it does
not want to be a full part of it since it includes anti-
religious Leftist elements.
The main issue is critically important to us: an agreed-upon
approach to the problematic issue of army service for yeshiva
students. It seemed that Barak was committed to drafting most
yeshiva students. This was a central feature of his election
campaign, and he introduced a law to that effect with much
fanfare. Many observers felt that a showdown on this issue
was inevitable. It was felt that the danger this time was
much greater than at any time in the past.
This agreement will stop the entire effort to draft yeshiva
students. No less important, it should put an end to the
terrible demagoguery and incitement against the Torah
community.
The price for this was not small, in ideological terms:
support for a government that includes extreme Leftist
elements. But the gedolei ume'orei hador took upon
themselves the weighty decision to sign the agreement with
the government in exchange for an end to pressures on
religious issues and a stop to the public incitement and
hatred against the chareidi community.
We must not forget our own part. After all is said and done,
what truly determines how and how well we survive the long
golus is our own behavior. If we are worthy, things
will turn out well, besiyata diShmaya.
