IN-DEPTH FEATURES
Shinui Shuts out Chareidim in Haifa -- and Has Big Plans for the Whole Country

At a special meeting of the Haifa City Council last Friday, 18 Tammuz, Mayor Yonah Yahav presented the coalition he had assembled. For the first time ever, no chareidi representatives were included, as a result of a Shinui veto against the inclusion of any chareidi parties. Former Haifa Mayor Amram Mitzna denounced the ostracism of the chareidim, calling it a very grave development, particularly in a city like Haifa, known for peaceful coexistence.

MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni says Interior Minister Avraham Poraz lied about the coalition in Haifa just as he acted deceitfully in the Knesset double voting scandal and the discovery that his Tel Aviv office was run by the Shinui Party.

MK Gafni's remarks refer to a fraudulent scheme Shinui carried out just before Election Day, when polls showed Shinui needed every last vote to ensure its candidate, Yonah Yahav, would win the election. Appearing at a press conference in Haifa, responding to a question posed by a Yated Ne'eman reporter, Poraz said that if Yahav were elected, Shinui would not dictate to him whom to select for his coalition, calling Shinui's pairing with Yahav a combination that served the common interest. "Yahav is not entirely a Shinui man," Poraz stressed.

After the elections Poraz changed his tune. "Apparently he was misunderstood," his spokesman explained. According to MK Gafni, "That was how Poraz acted in the double voting, at the Interior Minister's bureau in Tel Aviv run by Shinui and in the special allocations he received from Shinui."

Last week, Yahav told Yated Ne'eman that as far as he was concerned the chareidim are in the coalition, including all executive posts in the city government and maintaining the religious status quo. He believes that after the general municipal elections in the fall, Shinui will relax its ban and then United Torah Jewry will be able to join the coalition officially.

Former Labor Chairman Amram Mitzna expressed his regret over the chareidi ban, saying Yahav should not have surrendered to Shinui's impertinent demand. "It is very grave that for the first time in Haifa history the chareidim have been left out of the municipal coalition because of Shinui's ban. This would not have happened under me," said Mitzna.

Mitzna played an important role in getting Yahav into the mayor's office, if inadvertently. At first he backed Aliza Shenhar, but later he took part in having her join Yahav (see box). Ever since then he put all of his power behind Yahav, dedicating his main efforts to persuading chareidi representatives to support him.

Mitzna, whose door was always open to heads of the city's chareidi community, worked inexhaustibly to keep chareidi candidate Blitental in the mayoral race, making calls and arranging meetings with everyone he could. Mitzna was also involved in the agreement that was made to keep Blitental himself from dropping out, therefore he strongly objects to barring chareidim from the city council coalition.

Mitzna says Shinui effectively reneged on campaign promises. "It was clear that Yahav would cooperate with the chareidim after Blitental refrained from withdrawing from the mayoral race [at Yahav's request]. Personally, I never behaved in such a manner and the big absurdity is Lapid's inappropriate involvement in Haifa affairs."

Both UTJ and Shas were excluded from the city's coalition although there are no significant differences of opinion between them and the Mayor and despite the coalition agreements that were nearly signed. "I am blushing with embarrassment," Yahav told Yated Ne'eman. Yet his personal sentiments do not change the facts.

Big Plans

The Shinui veto succeeded in imposing the party's stance on the City Council. "This is our aim throughout the country," Shinui Spokesman Gal Segal told Yated Ne'eman. "We select our partners based on common ideas and based on the conceptual contribution they make. We will not sit with chareidim, not in the government and not in the local councils, because they do not identify with our worldview and with the principles we are striving toward."

Shinui's response is dumbfounding. Imagine what would happen if Jerusalem Mayor Rabbi Uri Lupoliansky (who was born in Haifa) had declared, immediately after his election victory, that he was going to disqualify Shinui representatives from sitting with him on the coalition because they "do not contribute conceptually" and because they "do not share a common worldview or identify with our ideals." The whole country would be up in arms. The media would not let the matter drop from the headlines. Everyone would be talking about the rejection of an entire sector, discrimination, fascism, fanatic domination, etc. Even the rejection of an Arab party from serving on a municipal coalition, whether in Haifa or elsewhere, would have caused major upheaval.

Lupoliansky did not play into his rival's hands and, unlike Shinui's national leadership, he invited Shinui council members into his coalition. They refused, but at least he made a gesture. In Haifa this was hardly the case, and based on Shinui's declarations they intend to veto any local coalition that includes chareidi representatives.

"We find it amusing that we have to justify not wanting to bring the chareidim into local authority coalitions, as if it were mandatory to have them sit on the coalition," said Segal. To Yonah Yahav, however, this is not amusing in the least.

Double Voting and Double Talk

"I was summoned to the Knesset in Jerusalem and there, for the first time, I heard about the Shinui veto against the chareidim," recalled Yonah Yahav in an interview with Yated Ne'eman. "I went back to Haifa with a sullen face. I couldn't believe this was happening to me."

Based on impressions, the new Haifa mayor really did feel pained. However, in his new post he does not want to tangle with Shinui man Avraham Poraz. "The budget tap is located in the Interior Ministry," say Haifa officials. "All it takes is for Poraz to scrunch up his face for a moment and presto, all of a sudden there are delays here and there. This could destroy Yahav already in his very first steps in the city."

The course of events in Haifa may serve as an indication of what Shinui, which has demonstrated such brazenness in the past, is plotting to do across the country. Poraz, the man who was caught voting twice in the Knesset and claimed it was done "without malicious intent and through a chance mistake in seating," stayed in Haifa shortly before the election and participated at a press conference held at the Har HaCarmel Hotel.

Before the press conference, in a preliminary conversation with Yonah Yahav, this reporter said he intends to ask Poraz unambiguously if he plans to force upon Yahav a coalition without chareidim and if he will try to alter the status quo in Haifa. Yahav replied, "That's an excellent question and you'll see him reply that he does not intend to do so. This was the agreement between us." Yahav also said he would not coach Poraz on the question in advance because he was sure of his answer.

Indeed, at the press conference Poraz clearly stated that just as Shinui compromised with the government on various issues with the Mafdal, likewise it has no intentions of forcing Yahav's hands on matters of religion, changes in the status quo or setting up his coalition. "Yahav is in charge, he will run the city, he will put together the coalition with whomever he chooses, and just as I do not run Bnei Brak, I cannot run Haifa." Everybody present heard these statements loud and clear.

Yahav made considerable use of Poraz' reply. His election staff called this reporter to verify the exact quote in order to disseminate the remarks within the religious sector. Their goal was to demonstrate Yahav is not a Shinui man and does not intend to implement the party's shameful platform.

Yet very soon this pledge proved to be a far cry from the reality. Apparently this is Shinui's typical modus operandi. A double vote in the Knesset and double talk in Haifa.

"As Far As I'm Concerned the Chareidim are in the Coalition"

Yonah Yahav's survey of events since the elections can shed light on Shinui's deceitful and discriminatory actions. Yahav makes no attempt to conceal his gratitude to the rabbonim of UTJ for complying with his request not to withdraw Rabbi Aryeh Blitental's candidacy for mayor. Keeping Blitental in the race helped him defeat Likud candidate Shmuel Arad. "I won't forget this," Yahav said after the elections.

"This is how it happened," Yahav explained, with his typical candidness. "Throughout the election campaign I declared I would not change the status quo and that I would include the chareidim in the coalition. Shinui figures said the same in interviews whenever they would come to Haifa, and Poraz himself answered you in this vein at that famous press conference.

"After the elections I indeed held coalition negotiations in total innocence, intending to include the chareidi representatives in the coalition. We were near completion. After all I have an obligation toward UTJ representative Blitental. And then I was summoned by Shinui figures to the Knesset. I thought they had asked me to come in order to give me a pat on the back. But then Lapid turned to me and said, `I heard you're close to completing the coalition with chareidim.'

"I responded affirmatively and he told me, `We object. This ruins our entire approach as the municipal elections draw near.' I asked him what the connection was between the national and local levels and stressed that I was taking care of landscaping, sanitation, resident services, and that this has nothing to do with chareidim and non-chareidim. I was joined by the Shinui crowd from Haifa--MKs Reshef Chen and Modi Zandberg. All the rest were against me.

"I kept trying, explaining that Haifa is a unique city in its demographic composition and the political tradition that has been created in it, which has melded together Jews and Arabs, secular and religious in municipal coalitions over the years." Yet all of his explanations fell on deaf ears.

"I went back to Haifa in a bad mood," says Yahav. "Beforehand, I reminded Shinui figures that they made different declarations during the election campaign. But they didn't care. This weighs heavily on me."

As far as Yahav is concerned the chareidim are in the coalition regardless. Before the City Council meeting on 18 Tammuz he declared he would make this point clear. "I gave them all of the posts just as we agreed upon in the coalition negotiations. Show me another mayor who issued an administrative order to close a store that was open on Shabbos. They tried to make legal difficulties for me, but I found legal loopholes that allowed me to order the closure and this just goes to show how much I will preserve the status quo."

Yahav is also familiar with Shinui's ruses in the coalition negotiations, such as trying to erase the words "status quo." He says their negotiating team found Hebrew cognates to ensure the current balance is maintained. "I sat down and sent a renewed letter to United Torah Jewry reiterating the promises I made to them preceding the elections. Now this letter has much more validity because it was given to them by a mayor and not just a mayoral candidate.

"If you ask me," concludes Yahav, "after the elections for the local authorities this whole affair will dissipate and the chareidim representatives will be in the coalition officially. In practice they are already there now. They will receive all of their posts and will be invited to meetings of the city board. As far as I'm concerned the chareidim are in the coalition, period."

Secular Coalitions at Local Authorities

The hunger for power that Shinui figures developed after the party's success in the Knesset elections is what now stands behind their decision to ostracize the chareidi parties by vetoing their inclusion in municipal coalitions. Lapid and his cohorts are convinced that insisting on this condition will help bring them a repeat success in the municipal elections as well.

From the chareidi standpoint this could be a much tougher battle than the campaign over the Knesset. The local authorities are the ones who determine the municipal laws and the status quo. If Shinui manages to match its previous achievements there are real fears of a change in the character of some of the local authorities and the launching of fierce battles over Shabbos and a culture war on many fronts.

Mayors in Shinui's hands or in a coalition together with the party would be forced to do its bidding, annulling aid laws, opening entertainment spots, operating public transportation on Shabbos, allowing the sale of non-kosher meat and cutting off funding for religious institutions. Shinui is liable to totally wreck religious life in all of the local authorities. The danger it poses in the Knesset pales in comparison to what it could wreak in the local authorities. The next threat is already looming near. Elections are scheduled for the coming Marcheshvon.

Until now mayors have not had to cope with this type of problem. Even Meretz, which has always been portrayed as an anti-religious party, never made such a firm condition as preventing the participation of chareidim in the coalition. Shinui, however, is far more extreme and militant.

More and more chareidi representatives worry that their parties will be the big losers in the local elections. And chareidi activists are even more worried over the coalitions that will be set up in all of the local authorities after the elections. Neither can Likud mayors be trusted to help in this matter. The national coalition demonstrates how the Likud, too, can turn its back on the chareidim, preferring to join Shinui.

The concept of a "secular coalition" could penetrate the local authorities as well. Mayors who do not have obligations toward the religious community and can set up a coalition without them may opt to do so. Without delay Shinui representatives would change the aid laws, demand public transportation on Shabbos, leave the religious institutions out to dry by stopping budget funding and rerouting it to Reform and Conservative institutions, approve the opening of more and more non-kosher butcher shops and totally transform the face of the country, all via the local authorities.

Internal Dissent Within Shinui

A repeat performance of Shinui's electoral achievements on the local level as well would lead to a fierce culture war.

The case of the Heichal Cinema in Petach Tikva may be a preview of future scenarios.

Although Shinui did not exist then, Mayor Dov Tavori of Maarach (now Labor) took advantage of the split in the chareidi parties and set up a coalition without chareidi or national-religious representatives. Among its first moves was to open Heichal Cinema on Shabbos. The aim was to alter the character of the settlements, which were founded by chareidim from Jerusalem.

The results were harsh and bitter. Every Shabbos, religious and chareidi residents had to set out after their meal to demonstrate against the new manifestations of Shabbos desecration. The policemen did not shirk from using force. Protesters came from around the country, but despite a tough campaign, their efforts were to no avail in the end. Now many are concerned the whole country could turn into the Heichal Cinema, i.e. a "tzelem beheichal" in places across Eretz Yisroel.

Chareidi representatives in local authorities are trying to forestall the coming evil as quickly as possible, even though the political establishment predicts Shinui will not hold together until the end of the term, due to internal dissent and tremors reminiscent of the Dash Party's fall in the 1970s. Shinui's internal composition--11 leftists and four right of center -- points to its heterogenity, which is certain to have a negative impact on the party's ability to remain intact over time. The incidents that took place in Haifa already reveal differences of opinion between Shinui representatives in Haifa, who were in favor of including the chareidim in the coalition, and the national Shinui leadership.

Many commentators predict Shinui will drop drastically in the coming Knesset elections in about four years, but in the meantime it could cause major damage, primarily the total dissolution of the status quo in the local authorities. The status quo has already been breached. The appearance of Shinui in the local authorities can only accelerate its complete eradication.

Combining Reform and Conservative

Shinui's unconcealed objective is to eliminate the religious councils and neighborhood rabbonim. Shinui is also fighting for this on the national level; one of its conditions for joining the coalition is the dissolution of the religious councils.

If Shinui candidates win mayoral races in some cities, chas vecholiloh, it could doom the religious councils. By law, 40 percent of the budget for the religious councils is transferred by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and 60 percent by the municipality. If the municipality freezes its portion, it will have a devastating effect on mikvaos, eruvin and Torah shiurim. All funding would hinge on the goodwill of the mayor--a Shinui man.

In other cases the mayor (from Labor or Likud) would have his hands tied by his coalition with Shinui and would have to maneuver accordingly. Shinui could totally ruin religious life in all of the local authorities.

Shinui also plans to repeat attempts to integrate Reform and Conservative representatives into the religious councils. During coalition negotiations in Haifa, the party's intent became apparent. At one stage Shinui proposed setting up an administrative body that would be in charge of the religious council until its dissolution and its integration into the city government. Shinui said 6-10 people would serve in such a body.

Right away, Shinui figures divided the representatives among the religious parties and then they divulged their intent. "It should be clear to you that our two candidates for the council will be Reform and Conservative," they told United Torah Jewry representatives sitting with them.

"It should be clear to you that we cannot agree to such a thing," retorted the UTJ representatives.

At the conclusion of these exhausting negotiations, Shinui figures in Haifa realized they would not be able to impose their will on this issue and they did an about-face. To circumvent this obstacle it was decided that only city council representatives would serve on the administrative body, to be headed by UTJ representative Rabbi Aryeh Blitental.

Haifa Politics in the Last Election For several years, the Haifa mayor has been Amram Mitzna, a former IDF general. Mitzna's performance there has generally been evaluated as successful all around. He maintained good relations with all sectors in a very diverse city. Before the last Knesset elections, Mitzna ran for and won the leadership of the Labor Party. In the subsequent election, Labor fell dramatically. As leader, Mitzna was elected to the Knesset. In order to take his seat in the Knesset, Mitzna had to resign as mayor, which he did. Thus, Haifa was one of three cities that had to hold special elections after its mayor left the city government to join the national government. (The other two are Jerusalem and Or Akiva.) There was no smooth succession in Haifa. Mitzna's party at first nominated Aliza Shenhar for mayor, with Mitzna's backing. However she soon dropped out of the race. Meanwhile Mitzna resigned as leader of the national Labor Party. The result was that Labor had no mayoral candidate in Haifa. For the first time in decades, if ever, Haifa would not have a Labor Party mayor. Yonah Yahav, the current mayor, was actually a member of the Labor Party for many years, and even served as an MK under its auspices. When the Labor nomination was given to someone else, he went to Shinui. He became the front-runner in the race, though he was followed closely by the Likud candidate. Although the chareidi delegation is small, they were always members of the governing coalition. In the past, UTJ ran together with NRP, fearing that they would not get enough votes to pass the minimum. This time they went along. R' Aryeh Blitental, the representative of UTJ, also put his hat in the ring for mayor. Since the race between the two front-runners was very close, the Shinui party asked him to stay in the race, fearing that if he dropped out his supporters would vote for Likud candidate. The rest is history.

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