Moshe Gafni does not want to be interviewed. He hasn't spoken in the media for more than three months. Eternity in terms of a politician. Eternity in terms of Moshe Gafni, as a clear and sharp voice representing the ultra-Orthodox public. Everyone contacted him - from children's channels that wanted to hear about her granddaughter in high-tech, through media outlets affiliated with Christians around the world, to Ofira and Berko. To all he refused: "This is not our war. We are not a party to the matter," he claimed.
During the months he remained silent, he saw how the "dispute between the kibbutzim and the periphery," as he calls the struggle over legal reform, did not skip him and his public – from the ugly throwing of banknotes at yeshiva students, through the large demonstration in Bnei Brak in May, to the siege this week on the rabbinical court and the spraying of graffiti "shame" on its walls.
Vandalism: Demonstrator sprays on the wall of the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court || Photo: Israel Hayom News
This is the basis for yesterday's dramatic article in Yated Ne'eman, and this is the basis for the ultra-Orthodox demand in the Prime Minister's discussion last Wednesday: Until now we have given you time to deal with the reform, now the draft law. The article in Yated, which says that after the reasonableness grounds we need to recalculate the course and see whether to continue with the legal reform, Gafni was well acquainted. Every word, every letter, was coordinated with him. This is the new direction that Gafni and his colleagues are now charting.
Wednesday's hearing was wide-ranging. It was attended by Netanyahu, Yossi Fuchs, Galant, Smotrich, Amsalem, Deri, Atias, Gafni, Goldknopf, Frosh, Maklev, the head of the Finance Ministry's budget division and the Defense Ministry's attorney general. Apart from a cup of tea for Galant and a cup of coffee for Netanyahu, no food was served to the table. They came to work, not to eat.
At the meeting, Gafni asked those present to "stop confusing the mind," and claimed: "Even if we bring a law that requires all haredim to enlist, they will come out against us to demonstrate."
.
"They demonstrated this week at the rabbinical court in Tel Aviv, what does reasonableness have to do with the court?! What do they want? It doesn't matter what we do at all, it's hatred of religion."
The Great Wound of Israeli Society
According to Gafni, if in any case demonstrators are demonstrating against the government and the ultra-Orthodox, the draft law should be passed. Despite Gafni's new approach, ultra-Orthodox MKs understand the sensitivity. When the Defense Ministry's attorney general presented the "Exemption Law for the Haredim," Deri quickly amended it: "There is no exemption for the ultra-Orthodox, they must enlist like everyone else. There is an exemption only for Torah learners," he said.
The sensitivity of Deri and his friends is clear. While the talk about appointing judges deals with what happens in the ivory tower of the court, and the attorney general's laws and the grounds of reasonableness are deep legal quibbles, the draft law is the real story. The great wound of Israeli society.
Anyone who goes to the demonstrations in Kaplan, reads the signs and hears the protesters, knows that the issue of equal burden burns in the innards no less than the burning on the Solberg Framework. Quite a few of the demonstrators are more concerned about the draft orders than the court orders, demanding that the uniformed be cared for more than those wearing robes. This struggle will accompany the government in the next session as well.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us