"The Lesser Evil": Haredi Public Leaders Against Dismantling the Government - Despite the Draft Law Not Passing

Contrary to the position of the Gur Rebbe, the Haredi leadership of 'Degel HaTorah' and Shas have made a clear decision not to dismantle Netanyahu's government - and to allow the state budget to pass despite the fact that the status of yeshiva students has not yet been resolved.

Senior members of the Haredi factions who met with the Gedolei Yisrael (Torah sages) heard: "The government is not good but it is the lesser evil, there are also achievements in the budget and we must not throw the baby out with the bathwater" (Haredim)

Netanyahu breathes a sigh of relief: The leaders of the Haredi leadership of 'Degel HaTorah' and Shas have conveyed to the heads of the Haredi factions the message that the state budget should be allowed to pass and the government should not be dismantled, despite the fact that the draft law did not pass and the status of yeshiva students has not been resolved.

The decision of the 'Degel' and Shas leadership contradicts the position of the Gur Rebbe, who instructed his representative Minister Goldknopf to vote against the budget even at the cost of dismantling the government, as long as the status of yeshiva students has not been resolved.

'Kikar HaShabbat' has learned that in conversations with the spiritual leadership, senior Haredi faction members heard that the principles of the draft law submitted by Defense Minister Israel Katz are not acceptable to them, so there is certainly no reason to pressure the Prime Minister to pass the law currently on the agenda before approving the state budget.

Furthermore, the Gedolei Yisrael asked the Haredi representatives what awaits "the day after" - is there a chance to pass a better law in a government not headed by Netanyahu and in partnership with right-wing factions. The position heard in the chambers of the Gedolei Yisrael was that the chance of passing a better law in a government with Yair Lapid or Naftali Bennett and Benny Gantz is slim to non-existent. "This is the government of the lesser evil, it's not good but there could be an even worse government," expressed one member of the Council of Torah Sages.

The representatives also presented their achievements for the Haredi public in the state budget to be approved, billions for the sector, such that voting against the budget would constitute a vote against funding for the Haredi sector. The Gedolei Yisrael, from 'Degel' and Shas, who heard the details of the achievements and the fact that "the day after" it would be almost impossible to regulate the status of yeshiva students - decided that the budget should be allowed to pass and efforts should continue to pass an agreed-upon draft law.

Some of the rabbis expressed a more firm position and stated that a government should not be dismantled and Israel led to elections during wartime, which according to them would increase incitement against the Haredi public.

One of the Haredi senior officials even added and emphasized in a conversation with a 'Council' member that if the legal advisor to the government, Gali Baharav-Miara, is indeed fired, it would be easier to pass an agreed-upon law since according to him, she creates difficulties in every possible section of the law that would regulate the status of Torah scholars.

As you may recall, the snowball began rolling with the dramatic revelation in 'Kikar HaShabbat' about the words of the Lithuanian leader Rabbi D. Landau, whose words as mentioned were first published here.

In the revelation, it was reported that when they came to convince the Lithuanian leader Rabbi Dov Landau to condition support for legislation on passing the current draft law, the yeshiva head firmly objected, saying that the current law is certainly worse than any law they could pass, and therefore a certainty vs. a possibility - the certainty is preferable, and now the situation is 'possibly,' since we don't know what the state's situation will be in a few months.

"This law," the yeshiva head explained as now revealed in 'Kikar HaShabbat', "is the worst law there is, it's not a good law and it will even greatly harm the Torah world." The yeshiva head even sent a barb to the Hasidic wing, saying: "And whoever claims that the Prime Minister should be pressured to pass the law immediately and now is mistaken, because what happens? You're telling the Prime Minister 'come hit me,' we have no interest in being part of that."