(JNi.media) Prime Minister Netanyahu’s 61-59 coalition government is being threatened by yet a new internal war, this time between Bayit Yehudi and United Torah Judaism. Having assisted the ultra-Orthodox party in tailoring the IDF conscription law to fit their constituency, Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Bezalel Smotrich (Bayit Yehudi) expected to receive UTJ support in return in passing the Settlement Division Act. But it now appears that not only will Smotrich not receive Haredi help, but Finance Committee Chairman MK Moshe Gafni is devoting extra efforts to block the law from move forward.
The purpose of the Settlement Division Act is to anchor in the Law the entity responsible for funding Jewish towns and villages around the country, especially beyond the “green line.” The law was initiated by Smotrich, who received the support of the left-of-center kibbutzim.
Last week the bill ran against the State Auditor who demanded that the Prime Minister stop the legislative process, which he believed is not democratic. MK Smotrich reacted angrily, arguing the Auditor lacked the authority for his “crude interference with the legislative process.”
Now it appears the Smotrich bill is being held up in Gafni’s committee, because the chairman claims Bayit Yehudi takes advantage of the Settlement Division to promote only its own settlements. It should be noted that passing the Settlement Division Act was enshrined in the coalition agreement, which Gafni’s coalition party signed on to, but Gafni, unimpressed, insists he should get a taste in exchange for his support.
A lot of bad blood is involved, dating back to the previous coalition government.
On Sunday Gafni attacked the Bayit Yehudi party, claiming that the budget earmarked for ultra-Orthodox yeshivas is given instead to Zionist yeshivas. Gafni made his charges at a conference of the Lithuanian community in Jerusalem, repeating charges he originally made last Friday, alleging that the National Religious yeshivas have been receiving preferential treatment starting with the previous coalition government, because their students serve in the IDF.
“The previous government cut the yeshivas’ budget in terrible ways, and they planned to cut it by another quarter this year,” said Gaffney, noting that despite the cuts, “over at the Religious Zionist camp they were not hurt. They just increased their rate — we were dropped to $62 per credit point and they were raised to $400.”
“They were partners with [former Finance Minister Yair] Lapid,” Gaffney said about Bayit Yehudi, demanding, “Now that everything has changed back, you should also return to the same place you were at in 2012″—the previous time the ultra-Orthodox were in government. Finally Gafni charged, “They want to keep all this money they took from us.”
MK Smotrich (Bayit Yehudi) told Srugim, “It pains my heart, but he (Gafni) is simply a liar.” Smotrich emphasized that MK Gafni’s comments were wrong “regarding the previous term as well as the current term.”
MK Smotrich said he is aware that yeshivas which encourage military service receive higher funding, but argues that the coalition agreement guaranteed that it won’t come at the expense of the ultra-Orthodox parties: “This year we funneled $10 million [from our own budget] to indemnify the additional funding for our yeshivas.”
Smotrich revealed that “Two months ago I suggested to Gafni to embark together on a gradual process of demanding matching yeshiva budgets with that of universities, but he rejected me outright, arguing that there is no chance for it.”