Lieberman warns against turning Israel into a religiously-run state
Speaking at a party meeting, defense minister pans decisions on Kotel and Conversion Law, laments the way they were handled and decries the 'forcing' of religion on people; announcing his party opposes a halachic state, he insists he is hoping to solve the crises that has ensued.
Speaking at his Yisrael Beytenu party faction meeting, Lieberman added that his party submitted an appeal to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation against the Conversion Law.
Furthermore, he also reiterated his shock at the government’s decision on Sunday to freeze plans to construct an egalitarian section at the Western Wall to cater for the holy site’s more liberal visitors.
“It suddenly came up on the day’s itinerary,” he claimed. “It is appropriate to discuss the issues of religion and state in the Special Committee.”
He wasn’t the only one to say that the topic was dealt with in an abnormally quick and haphazard manner. Other members of the coalition claimed that nobody knew it was even going to be raised in the cabinet discussions.
“They took a subject that is so volatile and complicated and dealt with it in the most inappropriate way,” one minister said.
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid also weighed in on the matter of the egalitarian plan. “We are banishing Jews from the Kotel,” he contended. “ What happened to the unity of Israel? What happened to the notion of ‘Jews don’t banish Jews?,’” Lapid said during his own party meeting.
“An absolute majority of Israeli citizens are opposed to these two decisions that passed yesterday in the government. An absolute majority of Israeli citizens know that these decisions were imposed on the government by a minority, with the help of political acrobatics and political manipulation,” he said in reference to the Haredi parties who welcomed the move.
Despite the discord that ensued within the coalition as a result of the decision, Lieberman assured his listeners that he had no interest in stirring up trouble over the issue.
“We haven’t come in order to threaten with crises. On the contrary, we want avoid crises. There is a stable coalition and we don’t want to rock it. I hope that we can solve this crisis quickly,” he said. “This doesn’t add to the good atmosphere in the coalition.”
The defense minister argued that the true champions of religion were those who bring people closer to it rather than those who distance people from it. “This is not the way...We are against forcing religion and we are against a country based on halacha,” he declared.
