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Rightist parties unite, replace NU/NRP
Nov 4, 2008 / By Jerusalem Post
(…) a new, as yet unnamed party that would put education at the top of its agenda. (…) “We decided to cancel all four parties and found a new one.” (…) the party wouldn’t put a rabbi at its helm. (…) Eitam planned to join the Likud because he didn’t believe the newly created party would become powerful enough to stop the territorial concessions of the left. NRP’s Orlev said he didn’t trust the Likud when it came to territorial concessions because they viewed the issue from a security perspective rather than one of principle. There are traditional, historical and ideological reasons why Hebron and Beit El should remain part of Israel that have nothing to do with security, said Orlev. That might be true, agreed Eitam, but then one has to ask the question: “What can a new religious/secular party” which is only likely to get five mandates do to stop such concessions.

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Likud and ‘not-Likud’
Last update – 10:08 04/11/2008 / By Haaretz, Yitzhak Laor

In 1977, a group of adventurers headed by a Bar Kokhba-like figure, Ariel Sharon, came to power. Under his leadership, this group dealt a death blow to any possibility of reaching a real compromise between Israel and the Palestinians – the “settlement enterprise.”
Those who lost power in 1977 reacted to the new right by saying “we’re less extreme than they are.” Labor leader Ehud Barak is the deepest expression of that movement’s final demise. Most Labor voters, at least since 1977, did not vote for it because of genuine feelings of belonging to the movement, but because of its new definition as the party that was “not Likud.” Yet one huge side of the political map remains unrepresented.

Four million people remain under Israel’s control, in various ways, and they are at the heart of the Israeli conflict – yet they are unrepresented. Thus Israel is essentially selling completely delusional scenarios in relation to the negotiations with the Palestinians.
But that is not the only reason Israel is in the midst of a political crisis. For years, the center has denied the heterogeneity of Israeli society. Ethnicity, which sought independent representation, became an insult. The religious parties were kept in the secular parties’ pockets (as philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz brilliantly described it, religion was the secular government’s concubine). Israeli Arabs were quarantined – first by martial law, and later by other means. Their leaders were never seen as potential coalition partners.

Much of the debate over Tzipi Livni’s failed efforts to form a government revolved around the legitimacy of granting representation to those who were not part of the center (Shas, the Arab parties). In the Israel of 2008, representation is fading as the backbone of democracy.

What, and whom, do elected representatives represent? What do Shaul Mofaz and Tzachi Hanegbi represent that Benjamin Netanyahu and Gideon Sa’ar do not? Centrists (comprised mostly of secular Ashkenazi Jews) are looking for representation. Will Mofaz, Hanegbi, Barak or Netanyahu represent them? If Kadima is swallowing up Labor’s voters, it is because there is no real center.

Complaining about Barak or Netanyahu or Ehud Olmert will not confer a political identity on anyone. To merit representation, you have to want someone to represent you because of his political views. It is easy to mock the Likud Central Committee in the days prior to Kadima’s establishment, even though it is clear that most of the corruption moved to Kadima rather than remaining in that committee, as some of the public wanted to believe it would.

It is easy to accuse Shas of extortion, because it represents a poor, religious segment of society. Would anyone accuse the universities’ senior lecturers of extortion over their willingness, year after year, to shut down additional sections of the universities, despite their high salaries and excessive benefits?

The truth is that Israel’s middle class is seeking an easy life, and the parties are dancing before it like singing telegram messengers, offering them Amnon Lipkin-Shahak and Dan Meridor in one election, Shinui in the next, and now, has-beens like Hanegbi and Haim Ramon, repackaged as “centrists.”

What exactly does this “center” signify? That it is neither right nor left. If so, what exactly does “left” signify on the political map? Negotiations with the Palestinians. Yet they neither vote for nor are elected to the parliament that rules over them. Thus the political system in effect chooses who will rule over the Palestinians – whether Mofaz or Netanyahu or Barak. In other words, what are they offering, other than arguments among themselves?

Don’t kid yourselves: None of them are offering a way out of the mess, because historically, this mess has given the political community a very good life. Just look at how Olmert’s career ended – with a flurry of talk about “historical mistakes regarding the Palestinians” and profitable real estate deals.

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NOVEMBER 3, 2008
JIWON:
I simply DON’T understand WHY SHAS should be the ONLY ONE blamed. What were THE REST MEMBERS in BEINISCH’s LEFT-Branja & BIBI’s RIGHT-Kippah/Russians doing while SHAS was asking TOO MUCH? Please check ALL the information in my Knesset-blog!!! WHAT a HARD JOB it is to update Kippah-I & Kippah-II… sigh O.o~*

Sectoral parties hurt their own constituencies, economists insist (Oct 26, 2008): (…) “You expect us to tackle haredi education? Nobody knows how you get haredi men or Arab women to work. The Pensioners Party would support such an initiative, however, if it were brought to the Knesset floor. The Likud or the other large parties can create a responsible budget and we’ll support it. But, of course, that’s not likely to happen before the Messiah comes. Already [Likud chairman Binyamin] Netanyahu is offering Shas subsidies in exchange for their support in his bid for power,” the Pensioners Party representative said.

BELOW is just a TINY part of Seventeenth Knesset in the FrontPage of my Knesset-blog!!!

Shas MKs absent from list of visitors at Harav Yeshiva (Mar 10, 2008): Visiting the yeshiva – which is considered the flagship educational institution of the religious Zionist movement – has become a sort of litmus test to determine loyalty to the Zionist ethos of Greater Israel. Members of both the Likud and the NRP-NU were welcomed at the yeshiva. (…) Sources in the yeshiva admitted that were Shas MKs to visit, they would not be attacked the way Tamir (Peace Now, Labor) was. However, they estimated that yeshiva students were likely to express vocal criticism against Shas’s support for the government. The yeshiva leadership rejected outright overtures from Olmert’s office to arrange a condolence visit. An official yeshiva source said that Olmert was not welcome because he supported parceling out pieces of the Land of Israel. (…) Meanwhile, the National Religious Party (NRP), which remained in Sharon’s government until shortly before the implementation of the plan, was severely criticized and weakened. Even the more right-wing National Union (NU), which left the government before the NRP, was blamed for allowing Sharon the political stability needed to implement the evacuation of the Jewish settlements in Gaza and North Samaria. But now with Olmert at least ostensibly pursuing peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, Shas is losing the constituents it gained after disengagement. (…)

UTJ to Shas: Build in Betar Illit or leave gov’t. (Mar 31, 2008).: Even UTJ chairman Ya’acov Litzman, who normally avoids commenting on territorial issues, pointed out that the Torah sages who advise UTJ on political issues oppose the building freeze. Asked if he was concerned that pushing to build in Betar Illit would hurt Israel’s relations with the US, Litzman answered, “Rice (USA) is in favor of dividing JERUSALEM. But the Torah sages are against it. We are not trying to arouse the anger of the US, we’re just listening to our rabbis.” (…) Sunday’s meeting in Betar Illit was also indicative of the sea change in the political sensibilities of the haredi population – which numbers between 500,000 and 700,000. Historically, HAREDIM have refrained from getting involved in security and diplomacy issues. This was due, in part, to a religious belief that Jews, who had been sent into exile by God for their sins, should not forcibly take control of the Land of Israel until God signaled the exile was over. It was also because the vast majority of haredi men avoid mandatory army service, opting instead to devote their time to Torah study. Thus, haredim felt they did not have the right to express opinions on security issues. However, the creation a decade and a half ago of Betar Illit, just five kilometers outside Jerusalem and beyond the Green Line, effectively tied the destiny of the burgeoning haredi population with that of the West Bank settlers. (…) Every year, 2,500 babies are born in Betar Illit and another 2,500 move there with their families from other towns. ONE-THIRD of the CITY’s POPULATION is UNDER the AGE of 18. Betar Illit’s mayor said he was aware that building there made his Palestinian neighbors angry…

Bibi to Shas: Olmert is freezing Jewish settlement. Leave it now. (Mar 31. 2008): Bibi said in a Likud faction meeting… Bibi reiterated his call on Shas to leave the government.
(JIWON: Bibi’s 3rd-time to command Shas^^!)

Rabbis to Shas: ‘collaborating with the enemy’ (Apr 2, 2008): Shas managed to… Givat Ze’ev… Betar Illit… However, the very fact that Shas remains in a government coalition that makes concessions to the PA is considered a betrayal in the eyes of many right-wing rabbis. (It) has aroused A GROUP OF RABBIS to ISSUE a HALACHIC DECISION that deems Shas’s political behavior UNLAWFUL according to JEWISH LAW. Chief Rabbi of Hebron-Kiryat Arba Dov Lior and Rabbi Meir Mazuz, head of the Kiseh Rachamim Yeshiva, an influential spiritual leader and kabbalist, were two of the most prominent signatories. The other rabbis were Ya’acov Yosef, son of Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, David Druckman, rabbi of the Kiryat Motzkin neighborhood near Haifa and Shalom Dov Wolpe, a messianic Chabad rabbi. (…) In response, SHAS said that his party FOLLOWS the HALACHIC DECISIONS of ITS OWN SPIRITUAL LEADERS, (=Shlomo Amar). “We are obligated to adhere to them and only to them. The halachic opinion of the right-wing rabbis will be published in a weekly called Eretz Yisrael Shelanu [The Land of Israel is Ours] which is distributed in synagogues across the nation. The rabbis’ decision was made public in response to the government… “The present government… These include the murder of the righteous XYZ, may God avenge their deaths. The government is doing this despite knowing that the guns will eventually find their way to Hamas soldiers.”
(MORE in Category, 10. Rabbis)

THEN, please check Dear-Arab-Readers AGAIN!!! WHY in the world I still can NOT hear the aftermath of this CORRUPTION case?

Part of Knesset-Jokes
This year’s State Comptroller Report is the biggest in history (May 21, 2008): (…) more than 1,500 pages (…) Regarding one of the investigations, involving Hameshakem – a company that employs 3,000 elderly workers and workers with disabilities – Lindenstrauss called on Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz to investigate instances of corruption. Hameshakem is owned by the government and the Zionist Organization and receives its funding from the Welfare and Social Services Ministry and from its own earnings. Lindenstrauss wrote that “the grave findings in this report point to very serious problems in the conduct of Hameshakem, even to the point of suspicions of corruption.” (…) But he also said the unprecedented length of the report did not indicate that there was more corruption this year than in the past.
(JIWON: Is my English still not enough to understand Hameshakem… Attorney-General… Corruption… Zevulun Orlev(NU-NRP)… PM Olmert…? Brrr.)

Do you follow IDEOLOGY or RELIGION or JUDAISM? Whatsoever… I only follow MONEY. *.*

Turmoil in religious Zionism Jun 11, 2008
(…) Major-league religious Zionist leaders such as Rabbi Haim Druckman, chairman of the Bnei Akiva Yeshivot and Rabbi Ya’acov Shapira, head of the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, called during a conference at the Givat Washington Educational Center to unite the religious Zionist constituency under one political party. (…) Religious Zionists have long lamented their inability to convert their relative size in the population into political clout. Some 15 percent of the Israeli Jewish public attends the national religious school system, however, religious Zionist parties represent less than 9% in the Knesset. Voters who identify with religious Zionism’s aims nevertheless vote for parties such as Kadima, Likud and Shas. (…) Despite the calls for unification at Givat Washington, there were tangible signs that religious Zionism once again ran the risk of failing to tap into its electoral potential. (…) the political infighting and lack of unity have dealt a serious blow to religious Zionism’s education system. “When the NRP was in the coalition we received NIS 250 per student monthly for teaching Jewish studies. Now we receive just NIS 70 a month. It is a shame that because of infighting and egos our educational institutions are suffering,” said Sa’ada.

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Fed up with Shas: Let’s hope that Shas, which only cares about itself, pays price in next elections
Published: 10.26.08, 11:35 / By Ynetnews, Sima Kadmon

Anyone who cares about the good of the country should hope for one thing: That if we are indeed dragged to elections now, those who will form the next government will be parties that are not called Shas.
Because if there is a God, or at least some kind of poetic justice, this party – which always seems to be able to hold us in sensitive spots (and I’m not talking about Jerusalem) and wrap us around its greedy and shameless finger – needs to pay the price for once.
It is impossible that an enlightened country able to compete with the most developed nations in the world in any area finds itself every time depending on an 88-year-old rabbi, who according to witnesses tends to get overly emotional and is fed by information being whispered in his ear selectively by interested parties.
Those who believe that what Shas cares about today are Israel’s poor children, please stand up. Those who believe that what separates Shas from the government are hundreds of millions of shekels needs to be punished. Because if Shas cared about hungry children, it would have grabbed Livni’s generous offer with both hands instead of gambling on elections whose outcome is unclear.

Had the Shas leadership cared about what’s good for the people of Israel, it would see what’s going on right under its nose and refrain from leading the country into a period of chaos, uncertainty, and reckless waste of money.
However, Shas, as Shas tends to do, only sees Shas. It has been in the government for so many years, its ministers hold the most important social affairs portfolios, yet it still has plenty of complaints. Shas is present in all decision-making junctions and is a partner to all fateful decisions, yet it still claims to be discriminated against. Every time it’s the same story: What will Shas do? What will Shas say? Will it join the government or not?

We’ve had enough. We’re fed up with you. We’re fed up with this ongoing delusion, with the manipulative negotiations, and with the self-righteous pretensions of having the good of all of Israel’s children in mind.
And it doesn’t matter if what bothers Eli Yishai is the fact that Tzipi Livni is a woman, or the fact that he fears Aryeh Deri’s revamped status, or whether he thinks that it will be easier for him with Benjamin Netanyahu. In any case, there is nothing pure about your motives; there is nothing moral or even right in your arguments.
Look around you. Look at what is going on in the world and go back to your rabbi. Ask him whether this is really what he wants: Creating uncertainty in an uncertain world and contributing instability in an unstable world. Ask him whether there is a truly good, justified, holy reason for shaking up the country for the next few months.

Livni declared Saturday that we are going to elections. Yet when it comes to Shas, everything is possible until the last moment. We should hope that ultimately common sense and the good of the country will win out. And if not, we should only hope for one thing: That the price of these needless elections will be paid by Shas.