The chareidi public in Israel and around the world is
preparing to fight against the economic deathblows the
government is set to deliver in the form of the proposed
economic plan designed to hack away at Torah institutions and
directly at Torah-true Jewry throughout Israel. In Israel,
United Torah Jewry representatives held an emergency meeting
last Thursday to discuss ways to combat the malicious
decrees.
A delegation of roshei yeshivos, rabbonim and public figures
set out for the U.S. this week to raise public awareness
among chareidi Jewry in the Diaspora regarding the
unprecedented assault against the chareidi sector in Israel.
Under the guidance of gedolei Yisroel delegation heads
will explain that the Israeli government is currently
finalizing a so-called economic program that consists not
merely of budget alterations to save the economy, as Finance
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu claims, but also a directed
campaign to squeeze the chareidi sector on all sides.
The delegation will also explain that these economic decrees
were inspired by haters of religion in the Shinui Party and
elsewhere, who forged coalition agreements and verbal
understandings with heads of the newly instated government to
clamp down on the entire chareidi sector, and are now setting
forth their plans in the guise of an economic program "to
save the Israeli economy."
Delegation members, together with heads of the chareidi
community in the U.S., will meet with various figures in
Washington D.C.--congressmen, senators, lobbyists and heads
of the Administration--asking them to prevent the injustice
hanging over the chareidi sector. The delegates will explain
that the chareidi sector was compelled to turn directly to
political figures in Washington because the Israeli
government is presenting the economic program to the public
as a plan imposed upon it by the U.S. in order to receive
loan guarantees, saying therefore the entire Israeli public
has no choice other than to accept it. Netanyahu has made
direct references to National Security Advisor Ms. Condoleeza
Rice, who praised the plan, and he claims the government will
only grant Israel loan guarantees if the plan is approved and
carried out in full.
"The Israeli government is seeking to promote malicious
political moves in the name of the Americans, undoubtedly
without their knowledge," states a message the delegates plan
to present. "The budget cuts that affect the chareidi sector
are not based on economic considerations but are guided by
hostile aspirations and a desire to destroy the chareidi
sector and the Torah world, which stands watch over the
embers of the original, deep-rooted Judaism."
Representatives of the chareidi community in the U.S. will
ask key figures in Washington to make their voices heard on
this matter based on a recognition that the U.S. government
seeks to act with fairness toward minorities. Activists say
based on the positive relations between the federal
government and Torah-true Judaism in the U.S., following the
meetings they believe national government leaders and
legislators on Capitol Hill will clarify to the Israeli
government that they do not want to see a specific sector
harmed by the budget cuts and will ask that their names not
be used to promote political ends and a campaign to wage a
"cultural war" against the chareidi sector.
