Coalition chair Bitan: Ministers left Netanyahu 'open to an attack'
In an interview with Ynet, David Bitan accuses Welfare Min. Haim Katz and Transportation Min. Yisrael Katz of shirking responsibility, leading to Health Min. Yaakov Litzman's resignation over Shabbat train work; nevertheless, Bitan assures that 'no one wants to go to elections.'
After Health Minister Yaakov Litzman submitted his resignation on Sunday, due to government-approved train work on Shabbat, Coalition Chairperson David Bitan admitted to Ynet that the current government, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is undergoing "a certain fluctuation," but said that at the end of the day, the government will remain intact.
Bitan places the majority of the blame for the current coalition crisis on two ministers from his own Likud party—Welfare and Social Services Minister Haim Katz and Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, whom he says could have prevented Litzman's resignation over Shabbat train work, by stepping up to their respective ministerial responsibilities.
"They could have handled it," said Bitan, though without specifying how. "And then we wouldn't have gotten to the point where we needed to bring it before the prime minister, since the prime minister can't offer a solution within a day or two—he doesn't have the authority, anyway, since the High Court of Justice decided that the ministers (Haim and Yisrael Katz—ed) have that authority.
"I'm not blaming anyone," said Bitan. "I'm just saying."
Bitan argued that "(Transportation Minister) Yisrael Katz said, 'This isn't within my authority, it's Haim Katz's responsibility.' Haim Katz then said, 'This is within my authority, so I'm going to make the decision,' with them leaving the prime minister open to an attack.
"The train could have been handled," posited Bitan, while saying that "it's within the transportation minister's authority. There's no such thing as 'it's not my job.'"
Bitan described Litzman as "being unwavering" when submitting his resignation Sunday morning. He admitted that at present, the Netanyahu-led government is experiencing some instability. "There's a certain fluctuation, I'm not saying there isn't, but right now Litzman is resigning from the government, not the coalition."
Upon his resignation, Litzman had stated, "I cannot take ministerial responsibility for the public, state-condoned desecration of Shabbat, in opposition to the Jewish people's sacred values."
Litzman's statement referred to a religious decree by leading Hasidic rabbis that forbade him from accepting a ministerial position that, at least officially, would have him support and share responsibility for all of the government's decisions—including those that go against Hasidic beliefs, such as government-sanctioned train work done on Shabbat.
Bitan referred to this issue by saying that the government could have found a way to allow Litzman to stay on as minister, were he to have come forward with what was bothering him.
"I think the main problem for him is his collective responsibility as minister. If he were to have come and said this, we would have found a solution. There's a simple solution here, as he could have been made a deputy minister with the authority of a minister."
But the High Court of Justice forced you to appoint him minister.
"We're going to fix the law. The ultra-Orthodox can't agree to working on Shabbat, regardless of the reason. It doesn't even matter what the reason is, which is why we need to make an effort in this regard, so (the ultra-Orthodox) won't have to take on collective responsibility. That's all.
"We want to find the middle ground between the good of the public and the public's need to receive services—particularly public transportation—and keeping Shabbat. We'll find a way, but obviously we can't have anyone holding a gun to our heads."
When asked whether Litzman's resignation signals that the general elections are near, Bitan said expressed his doubts, while agreeing that "you can't argue with the fact that such a situation could develop here. I hope it won't.
"We're able to maintain this system, since no one wants (to hold new) elections and everyone understands that if we do hold elections, we'll get almost the exact same result, with the same government, only it would cost the public two billion shekels and would bring all legislation to a halt for six months," said Bitan. "These are the only reasons why we don't want to hold elections."
