Israel’s ultra-Orthodox go to opposition, furious with PM-designate
Relegated to the opposition benches and about to lose both budgets and political influence, the ultra-Orthodox parties are angrily attacking Prime Minister-designate Naftali Bennett.
Leaders of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox parties mounted a furious, unrestrained attack on Naftali Bennett on June 8, with Minister Yaakov Litzman of the United Torah Judaism party accusing the prime minister-designate of “disgracing” the yarmulke he wears and demanding he remove it.
Litzman accused Bennett of forming a radical left-wing government lacking moral values. He warned that the so-called government of change would annihilate Israel’s Jewish identity by allowing liberal conversions to Judaism, imposing the military draft on ultra-Orthodox men instead of allowing them to dedicate themselves to Torah study, allowing civil marriage and public transportation on the Jewish Sabbath and recognizing the Reform stream of progressive Judaism.
Litzman’s harsh lament was delivered at the Knesset, during a dramatic press conference convened by ultra-Orthodox lawmakers, hours after Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin announced that the new Bennett-led government would be sworn in June 13. By scheduling the vote on the new government, Yariv dashed ultra-Orthodox hopes that their longtime ally, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would pull a rabbit out of his hat at the last minute and save them from the opposition benches.
Convening what they termed an “emergency” meeting, the ultra-Orthodox vowed to fight the “wicked” government, calling it a spiritual and material threat to the denizens of the Holy Land. They also warned against a government that will cooperate with the Reform movement, which they regard as a desecration of true Judaism.
