Today, former minister Rabbi Ariel Attias met with Rav Moshe Maya, the elder member of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah of Shas, to update him on the current impasse in negotiations over the chareidi draft law and the demands being made by MK Yuli Edelstein, head of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Attias, who is leading the discussions on behalf of the chareidi parties regarding the legal status of bnei yeshiva, briefed Rav Maya on the sharp disagreements that have emerged, particularly Edelstein’s insistence on inserting stringent clauses into the draft bill.
“I asked Edelstein yesterday during our latest conversation — what exactly are you aiming for? What do you want?” Attias recounted to Rav Maya. “He told me he wants draft targets to be set for five years, not seven as proposed by Defense Minister Katz. In addition, he’s demanding that if 95% of those targets aren’t met, all yeshiva funding should be canceled — unlike the position of the chareidi parties, which calls for proportional adjustments based on compliance rather than an all-or-nothing approach.”
Rav Maya responded forcefully: “This is completely unacceptable to us. These are principles that degrade talmidei chachamim. This is a law that declares we have no share in the G-d of Israel.” Quoting the Rambam, he added: “Those who study Torah are exempt from army service.”
Rav Maya pressed further: “Why don’t you separate those who are truly learning Torah from those who aren’t? Why should we be setting quotas and benchmarks? Why are we including non-learners in this law at all?”
Summing up the uncertain state of affairs, Attias remarked, “We are still undecided on the right course — whether to push for the dissolution of the Knesset or simply to leave the coalition.”
Rav Maya replied unequivocally, “We cannot remain in this government any longer. How exactly we’ll go about that…we’ll decide soon with Aryeh [Deri].”
Meanwhile, Shas is preparing for a special meeting of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah, expected to take place next week at the party’s headquarters in Har Chotzvim.
{Matzav.com Israel}