Rabbis slam West Bank withdrawal
Petition religious parties against joining PM Olmert's government--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: April 25, 2006
JERUSALEM – Some of the most prominent rabbis in the Jewish state yesterday issued a call for religious Knesset parties to abstain from joining the recently elected Israeli government, blasting new Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to withdraw from most of the West Bank as "disastrous" for the country's security.Several top religious parties are currently conducting negotiations to join Olmert's government. Their participation is considered crucial for Olmert to form any stable ruling coalition.
"There is no issue that supersedes human life, and the [withdrawal] plan will lead to bloodshed and will place the residents of Israel in mortal danger," read a statement signed by the leaders of the Rabbinic Council for Peace, a coalition of over 1,500 pulpit rabbis nationwide, including many top religious names here.
Olmert's Kadima Party last month won by a slim plurality the most mandates in the 120-seat Knesset. The leader of the party that wins the most seats becomes prime minister and must form a governing coalition consisting of more than 60 Knesset seats to assume power.
Leading Israeli political analysts contend Olmert, with 29 seats, would need a religious party to join him if he is to form a stable government. Kadima's alliance with Labor, which has 20 seats, looks likely. The ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, with 12 seats, has said it might join Olmert's coalition along with the smaller United Torah Judaism if certain economic conditions are met.
If the ultra-Orthodox parties refuse to join Kadima, Olmert would be hard-pressed to form a governing coalition.
Yesterday, negotiators for Shas and UTJ reportedly demanded several government portfolios, the independence of Israel's rabbinical courts and money for financial and social religious institutions as preconditions for joining Olmert's government.
The Rabbinic Council for Peace slammed the religious parties for not objecting to Kadima's planned West Bank withdrawal:
"You gain nothing with more stipends for large families and more money for yeshivos when our very existence will be in danger as a result of the convergence plan," stated the rabbis' petition.
"Instead of focusing on secondary issues, you should focus and insist on the removal of any guidelines that stipulate abandoning land to Hamas and the uprooting of Jewish settlements."
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Kay