Gafni in discussion with rabbis: "The question is, do we need to invest this much?" | Report
Following the July Maariv publication on the possibility of the ultra-Orthodox-right-wing bloc dissolving: an i24NEWS report reveals that Moshe Gafni discussed with rabbis the possibility of a government led by Gadi Eisenkot and wonders if the price of the alliance with the right justifies the harm to yeshiva students.
The historic alliance between the ultra-Orthodox parties and Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a significant test, as criticism grows within the ultra-Orthodox political system regarding the handling of the issue of drafting yeshiva students and the arrest of deserters. Already in July, it was reported in Maariv that figures in the ultra-Orthodox parties were raising a real possibility of dissolving the bloc if Netanyahu fails to form a coalition, with the demand for an arrangement that ensures the status of Torah scholars at the center.
It now turns out that the discussion is not merely theoretical. Ultra-Orthodox affairs correspondent Ari Kalman reported on i24NEWS that United Torah Judaism chairman Moshe Gafni held a discussion with rabbis, during which the possibility of politically preparing for a scenario of a government not led by Netanyahu, and in particular a center-left government led by Gadi Eisenkot, was examined. According to the report, one of the central questions being examined is whether the political price of remaining in the right-wing bloc truly justifies the harm to Torah scholars, and whether an alternative government might allow for a more comfortable solution to the draft issue.
In the discussion, Gafni was heard referring explicitly to the conduct of the political camps:
"How much are we obligated? It's not simple, I see the left, I see their behavior, I see the right, it's something completely different. The question is, do we need to invest this much?"
The remarks take on additional significance against the backdrop of the report published in Maariv on July 23, according to which frustration in the Ashkenazi parties reached a peak, when voices of distancing from the bloc were heard in Agudat Yisrael, and a sharp letter from Rabbi Dov Lando was published in Degel HaTorah, in which it was stated: "There is no bloc and no trust in Netanyahu." Also, Moti Babchik, a close associate of Yitzhak Goldknopf, said then that "there is no such thing as a bloc anymore" and that the ultra-Orthodox will go with whoever gives them a "Torah is his craft" arrangement.
Now, after Gafni's discussion with the rabbis, the question arises whether the threat of dissolving the bloc is gradually turning from a political scenario into an option being seriously examined within United Torah Judaism.
