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20 Elul 5759 - September 1, 1999 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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News
Turbine Coalition Crisis Averted at the Last Minute; Weekday Solution Reported At Hand

by Betzalel Kahn and Mordecai Plaut

Never in the history of the state has there been a Prime Minister who disdained his coalition partners as does Ehud Barak. The UTJ party, on the instructions of maranan verabonon, asked for nothing in exchange for joining the coalition two months ago except for an arrangement whereby the draft threat will not loom over the heads of yeshiva students. It didn't ask for benefits, nor for parliamentary positions nor jobs. Its only request was: Give me Yavneh and its sages.

From a political standpoint, the Prime Minster benefited from UTJ's joining the coalition, because he had their votes and still had additional jobs that he could give to his other partners in the coalition.

But Barak talked tough. "I won't yield to chareidi blackmail," "The chareidim will only lose if they leave the coalition," are only some of the comments of Barak late last week, in his reference to UTJ's announcement that it would leave the coalition if the turbine was transferred on Shabbos from Ramat Hasharon to Ashkelon.

"In the early years of the State, when Mapai was in power, the government's heads knew quite well how to accord a modicum of respect to their coalition partners. Barak is the boss. He will determine what will occur in the state, and how its Jewish character will be fashioned. He will change the status quo as he sees fit. In brief, he is the baal habayis of the state, and everyone has to listen to him," said various politicians, in reference to Barak's behavior during the current turbine crises.

The Prime Minster Stubbornly Insists

Last Thursday, after the official announcement that the party would withdraw from the coalition in the event that the turbine was transferred, in accordance with the guidelines of maranan verabonon, it seemed as if the Prime Minister would be forced to interfere.

But no. The Prime Minister insisted that this was a totally "professional" issue and that the turbine would be transferred precisely as planned, and precisely according to the decision of the high ranking officials in the Traffic Department of the Police which stated that the component (this week a superheater) could not be transferred during the week because it would block vital traffic arteries. Barak declared that "he won't yield to chareidi blackmail," echoing the anti-religious stereotypes that unfortunately characterize public discussions in Israel.

Sources close to Barak had warned chareidi representatives that the prime minister was not going to give in this time: "He'll go to early elections, he won't tell the power company to cancel their order, and he won't come out against the High Court of Justice," one of his emissaries told MKs from the United Torah Judaism party. "The ones who will lose from leaving the coalition are the chareidim, whose interests will be harmed," said Barak, who frequently lectures others on what their real best interests are, according to him. (Arafat is reported to have rejected his advice angrily on at least one occasion.)

However, on Friday morning the Prime Minister finally understood that UTJ indeed was planning to withdraw from the coalition, and that Shas was hot on its heels. Shas chairman Eli Yishai, so said the media, even instructed the ministers of his party to prepare letters of resignation. The loss of 22 MKs would be a big blow. As a result, the Prime Minister decided to enter the picture, and "to indeed yield," and open negations with UTJ. Meimad Minister Michael Melchior and government secretary Yitzchak Herzog led the efforts to find a solution.

The members of UTJ at first informed Minister Melchior and the government's secretary, Yitzchak Herzog, that there was nothing to talk about. "The rabbonim have instructed us to resign if the turbine is transferred. it. There's nothing to talk about, especially in light of the declarations of the Prime Minister."

Barak began to feel pressured, and he softened his speech. He issued an announcement in which he said: "The State of Israel is a state of law, a Jewish and democratic state in which the rule of the law, and Shabbos is one of its values." Later, officials in the Prime Minster's office were quoted as saying that Barak is serious in his intention to lessen the amount of Shabbos desecration in the country.

UTJ asked for a more direct statement about Shabbos and they got it, as Barak wrote, "The prime minister sees Shabbos as an important value, which has preserved Israel throughout the generations, and he refrains from attempts to create tension and desecration of the Sabbath over the issue."

The official, explicit mention of Shabbos in this context was one of the steps that UTJ had asked for, and this statement cleared the atmosphere and paved the way for what followed.

The Prime Minster Backs Down

During a visit to injured soldiers in Haifa, Barak said, "In a normal and modern state like Israel, professional and security issues should not serve as political trading cards. . . .I believe that the issue of the turbine transfer should not be transformed into a struggle over the religious identity of the State nor into an Independence Day celebrations for the secular."

The agreement that was finally reached said that loading and unloading the component would not be done on Shabbos, that the actual transfer would be done by non-Jews, and that future transports would not take place on Shabbos.

What Really Happened on Shabbos?

Under the arrangements made, the turbine part -- last week a 250-ton superheater -- was loaded on the transport vehicle before Shabbos in Ramat Hasharon in north Tel Aviv, was transported as much as possible by non-Jewish workers, and was left parked opposite the new Rutenberg power plant in Ashkelon, where it was unloaded after Shabbos ended.

The convoy carrying the load began its journey shortly before 8 on Friday night (about an hour after Shabbos starts in Israel these days), and arrived in the parking lot opposite the Ashkelon power station some 13 hours later.

Around 200 Shinui supporters lined a bridge spanning the road near the start of the route north of Tel Aviv. "I'm happy that the rule of law has again beat out the rule of the rabbis," Shinui leader Yosef (Tommy) Lapid said.

Many Bnei Brak residents came out to demonstrate at the Coca Cola intersection where the transport route passes by. Shinui and One Israel activists also arrived on the scene and cheered the convoy along. Policemen were stationed at the junction in order to prevent the secular demonstrators from clashing with the chareidim. One Israel officials had announced that they would show their support of the Shabbos transport by demonstrating on the bridge between Bnei Brak and Givat Shmuel.

United Torah Judaism MK Avrohom Ravitz said to Ha'aretz, "The solution reached isn't perfect, in regard to halacha, but the willingness to go in the direction of halacha solves the symbolic problem . . . concerning the insistence on Shabbos desecration."

The transport company later claimed that on such short notice, it was impossible to replace the experienced drivers, and therefore, the two drivers who had led the previous convoy were employed again. (See interview with Albert Cohen, Friedenson's project manager.)

Yediot Acharonot published a diagram under the heading "Find the Differences." It included two tables with the data of last Friday's transfer and of the preceding transfer. Following are the facts according to them: The loading took place in both cases prior to Shabbos. On both occasions, one of the drivers was a Jew, the other a non-Jew. Seven Jewish maintenance men were present both times; scores of Jewish police were present both times; the dismantling took place after Shabbos both times.

According to Ma'ariv, 45 workers participated in the transfer of the turbine. 18 of them were traffic police, and 7 more were employees of the Friedenson transport company. The remainder were subcontractors who engaged mainly in the dismantling and reinstalling fences and traffic lights along the course of the turbine.

All 18 policemen, Ma'ariv reports, were Jewish. Out of the seven employees of the transport company, only two drivers were non-Jews, while all five of the other workers were Jews. Only the workers of the subcontractors, who were engaged mainly in the dismantling of traffic lights and signs, were all non-Jews.

"The promises given this past Friday, to place the turbine on the truck before Shabbos and to remove it after Shabbos were given only in order to pull the wool over the eyes of the chareidim. This is standard procedure in transferring turbines," Ma'ariv concluded.

But apparently Ma'ariv missed the point. The issue was not one of halachic propriety, since in any case the transport would not have met even minimal halachic standards. The point was to demonstrate respect and consideration for Shabbos and to ensure that things will be better in the future. This was the "symbolic problem" that Rabbi Ravitz spoke about.

The Day After

On Sunday, after the latest transport, UTJ convened a special party meeting on the issue and reached the following decisions:

1. The party notes the fact that the loading of the turbine was done prior to Shabbos and the unloading after Shabbos. The party has been told that the transfer was done by non- Jews.

2. The solution formulated on Friday is not a permanent one. Therefore the party demands that heavy components stop being transferred by government bodies and by national companies on Shabbosim and holidays, as was promised.

3. The party noted the remarks of the Prime Minister regarding the importance of the value of Shabbos, and hopes that the Committee of Directors General will act in accordance with this statement.

Rabbi Yisroel Eichler also proposed that from now on, in every crisis of this sort, the issue should be properly explained to the media, especially in the secular sector.

They Continue to Avoid a Solution

Immediately after the UTJ meeting, two of its members, MK Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz and MK Rabbi Yaakov Litzman hurried to the meeting of the Committee of Directors General. This committee was formed after the Prime Minister accepted the proposal of Minister Yitzchak Levi to establish a high level team which would deal with the overall technical aspects of future transfers.

The committee includes the directors-general of the Transportation, Infrastructure, Internal Security, and Labor and Social Affairs ministries, along with United Torah Judaism MKs Yaakov Litzman and Avrohom Ravitz.

The directors general will work with Minister Michael Melchior. At the meeting of the committee, the directors of the government offices attempted to continue to undermine the solutions proposed on Friday. Some of them claimed that it is impossible to prepare parking areas for the heavy components on the country's highways if the components are transferred during the nights in the middle of the week. Some of them said to the UTJ representatives, "Let us just transfer three more components, and it'll be all over."

The UTJ representatives on the committee staunchly refused. "We are not willing to accept your proposals. We did not come here to find other ways to transfer the components on Shabbos. We have met in order to examine the ways to transfer the components on weekdays, by preparing parking areas for the heavy components," they told the members of the Directors General Committee.

Friedenson's attorney, Yechiel Gutman, promised that in forthcoming transfers, only non-Jews would be employed on Shabbos. He thus indirectly confirmed that not all of the workers last Shabbos were non-Jews, as had been promised on Friday.

Gutman made it clear to the committee that his client is not interested in violating Shabbos, but that no better solution has as yet been proposed. He said that if there is another transport on Friday night, every effort would be made to use only non-Jews. Gutman conceded that two Jews were involved in the transport of the superheater this Friday night, despite the company's best efforts to adhere to the compromise which called for the transport to be handled by non-Jews.

One of the more realistic alternative solutions put forth would have the next part, set to move on Friday night, transferred in two stages: on Thursday night and Saturday night. In the interim, the transport would be stored on a special lot.

The possibility of building a new, enlarged lot -- which could take up to a month -- is also being examined.

If no solution is found, it is most likely that the IEC transport will indeed move this Friday night. Gutman said that on the following Friday, which is also the first night of Rosh Hashanah, there would in any case be no transport.

A Weekday Solution to be Announced

A proposal to move the turbine on weekdays, by preparing parking sites along the route, will reportedly be announced on Tuesday by the directors' general committee. According to this solution, the turbine would be moved over three nights, resting during the day in special parking areas prepared along the route. The Public Works Department is expected to announce that from an engineering standpoint, parking areas for the turbine can be prepared in one week. The cost is expected to be NIS 20-30,000 ($5-7,000). One site is near the Ganot interchange and the other near the Ashdod interchange. The police are expected to say that from the point of view of traffic, this solution is possible, albeit less than ideal. They say that there is a significant risk if anything goes wrong.

Leading Up to Last Week

Two of the six turbine sections had already been transported over the past two months on Friday night and Shabbos morning. The police gave permits to transport the sections only on Shabbos because of the size of the load and the slow speed at which it could travel.

The first transport took place before anyone realized what was going on. Before the second transport, chareidi MKs and ministers made efforts to shift it to sometime during the week. MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni said that 117 similar projects were transferred from Shabbos to weekdays during 1998.

After the second transport, Labor and Social Affairs Minister Eli Yishai informed the police that the move was illegal, because Friedenson's Jewish employees had not been given Shabbos work permits. After State Attorney Edna Arbel instructed the police not to escort the transport because the Jewish employees were breaking the law, Friedenson petitioned the High Court. A few days later, Am Hofshi, a secular rights activist group, submitted a second petition.

The outcome was a foregone conclusion knowing the court's attitude to religious issues and also after the State Attorney's Office refused to defend Yishai, who told the court that he could not grant the permits since he needed more time to study the request.

MK Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz said that "from the outset we did not expect the High Court to be the body which would protect Shabbos kodesh. But we thought that nonetheless, the Court would take into consideration the more than a million citizens of the State of Israel for whom Shabbos is precious - - and it disappointed us even in this.

"The Court, with a swirl of pen and in a matter of ten minutes, undermined the sanctity of Shabbos, and offended over a million citizens of the State. The judges did not take the trouble to examine if the professional considerations of the police were indeed correct, and if it is really totally impossible to move the turbine on weekdays.

"Every intelligent person understands that it is easier to move such a huge load on Shabbos. But in light of the professional opinion which I examined, I conclude that it is possible to move the turbine on weekdays too. Of course, with difficulties.

"Yes it is hard to be a Jew, and we have given up our lives for this purpose from the time we became a nation.

"This ruling is a grave statement, and its implications extend far beyond the ruling itself. It is very serious that the High Court determined that sacred values of the Torah observant community, are of no import when they consider their ruling.

"We must face this truth, and to know where we stand in the struggles which face us in the future."

Rabbi Ravitz is being conservative in claiming only a million Israelis are offended by the Shabbos move. He counted only the voters of UTJ and Shas. The real figure is probably triple that number.

MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni said: "I hope that the Minister will not sign the Shabbos work permits. There is no law in the State of Israel which obligates the desecration of Shabbos in order to make life easier. The only reason for desecrating Shabbos is if life is at stake, or if there is a possibility that life is at stake, neither of which is the case here.

"Once again, the court has expressed itself on an ideological matter of conscience. It's not a matter of law. Most of the justices do not regard the issue of Shabbos kodesh as uppermost in their order of values, as opposed to the conscience of one who was raised on the value of Shabbos observance.

"But the court preferred comfort over the value of Shabbos observance, and preferred that Jews should desecrate the Shabbos for an issue which isn't pikuach nefesh or even possible pikuach nefesh. I hope that Minister Yishai won't sign the work permits, and that an alternate for moving the turbine will be found.

"I also, view with gravity the fact that the State Prosecutor came to Court with a predetermined notion that Shabbos may be desecrated. This is very serious, and we must take this into our considerations."

The Gedolim Speak

At a special consultation session held by the gedolei haTorah vehaChassiduus, on Wednesday night the 14th of Elul, maranan verabonon said that in addition to the massive Shabbos desecration caused by the proposed transfer of the compound, a tremendous chillul Hashem would be created by the public trampling of Shabbos in so demonstrative a manner. They told the UTJ Knesset representatives that if the turbine is transferred on Shabbos kodesh they must protest the desecration and may not continue to sit in a coalition that supports massive, tendentious Shabbos desecration. UTJ must not remain silent, but must withdraw from the coalition immediately, they were instructed.

The decision now rests with maranan verabonon the gedolei haTorah shlita, who will determine whether there was a breach of promise, or whether we will continue to sit in the coalition, and that the promises not to transfer additional components on Shabbosim will indeed be fulfilled.


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