Haredi parties say it's 'up to Netanyahu' to hold coalition together
Following agreement struck between PM and Haredi parties to save the coalition, Haredi parties say government is to survive if Netanyahu sticks to his word regarding Shabbat bills that would hinder work on Jewish day of rest; Likud party promises to pass said bills by next week.
The political system showed cautious signs of optimism after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday he had reached an agreement with the Haredi parties to pass the Shabbat bills. The agreement ended a coalition crisis that had reached its apex with the resignation of Health Minister Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism) earlier Sunday. As a sign of trust, the Likud party promised to pass the Shabbat bills by next week.
"The question of whether or not there will be elections depends solely on Netanyahu," responded a source among the ultra-Orthodox factions. "If he wants, the coalition will continue."
A win-lose situation for Litzman
Sources in Likud speculated that in the overall scheme of things, Litzman wound up losing more than he has gained: not only did he give up his role as minister and is set to become deputy minister, he standing also hurt by internal struggles within the Hasidic Agudat Yisrael faction, after being attacked by additional followers of the faction's spiritual leader, Ger Rebbe Yaakov Aryeh Alter.
The deal reached between Netanyahu and the ultra-Orthodox factions, represented by coalition members Shas and United Torah Judaism (itself comprised of factions Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah) states that Likud will simultaneously push to change the law to allow Litzman to hold ministerial power as deputy health minister, while also pushing for Shabbat to be enforced as a mandatory day of rest across the country (with certain exceptions to be made in places such as Tel Aviv).
Both moves are part of Netanyahu's efforts to appease the Haredi factions: while they fundamentally opposed businesses remaining open on Shabbat, Litzman's ultimate resignation came due to the government-backed train work carried out on Shabbat, something that as minister he took partial responsibility for.
Commenting on his resignation over "Shabbat's desecration" on Monday, Litzman said he had to take a stance and resign to protect the Jewish day of rest.
"I am resigning with my head held high," he said during the inauguration of a local clinic in the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit. "I am an emissary of the Torah's sages. What they say, I do, without arguing.
"I'm not going to even talk about the subject of deputy minister until we fix the rules," he stressed, referring to Netanyahu's plan to name him deputy health minister with the same ministerial powers he once had. "No one believed me two weeks ago that I was going to resign. They thought it was only a threat. The matter of Shabbat is part of our foundation. We do not agree to any desecration of Shabbat."
Litzman's stressed that he "will not agree under any circumstances to discuss the matter of deputy minister as long as the Shabbat bills are not passed," making it clear that changes to Shabbat legislation will have to be made before he (and his Agudat Yisrael faction) would be willing to discuss an amendment to the Basic Law that would grant the prime minister the power to appoint a deputy minister with the powers of a minister.
Meanwhile, Yesh Atid Chairperson Yair Lapid expressed his indignation at the government's intention to pass a law that bypasses the High Court of Justice's ruling that forbids such a move.
"Again with the deals," Lapid said in response to the agreements reached between Netanyahu and the Haredi factions. "The High Court has already ruled that there is no such thing as a deputy minister with ministerial powers, but because of the panic and fear spread by the ultra-Orthodox parties, Netanyahu continues to distort the law."
Lapid added that he feared for the fate of the Health Ministry.
"The court ruled that the prime minister cannot, with all of his occupations, manage the Health Ministry," he said. "This was not a ruling against the ultra-Orthodox—it was a ruling in favor of the citizens.
The citizens of Israel deserve the best health care. These are matters of life and death. This is a complex system that demands a full-time minister rather than some kind of political campaign. Now comes the government and for all sorts of political reasons pushes deal after deal. That's no way to run a country."
Agreement reached, crisis averted
In addition to Litzman being granted ministerial authority as deputy minister, the agreement also determined that supermarkets in Tel Aviv would not be closed, putting an end to an issue that has enraged the ultra-Orthodox parties, particularly after recently-retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Miriam Naor rejected an appeal for a further hearing on a petition seeking closure of Tel Aviv's supermarkets on Shabbat.
The ruling—Naor's final decree before retiring as chief justice—effectively ratified a previous verdict issued on the matter, allowing supermarkets to remain open on the Jewish day of rest.
Despite the commitment to keep supermarkets in business on Shabbat, it was also agreed that the so-called Supermarket Bill, which grants far-reaching powers to Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) to nullify municipal by-laws, would be passed next week.
Netanyahu and the Haredi parties also agreed that train transportation would not be adversely affected during weekdays, and that a proposed piece of legislation sponsored by the Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz would be adopted to enable Welfare and Social Services Minister Haim Katz to consider a variety of factors when determining the necessity of maintenance work on Israel's trains during Shabbat.
These include public safety, Israeli traditions, employees’ welfare and the degree of harm caused to public space.
Finally, and much to the Haredi leaders’ chagrin, Sunday's agreement allows for soccer matches to continue to be held on Shabbat.
