Confused?

[yaaqov]

B"H

Confused?

17 of the Ninth Month 5769

The National Union, made up of Tequmah, Moledet, and Ach"i and the National Religious Party [NRP] recently voted to disband and to form a new party, the Jewish Home Party.

Tequmah is made up of those who used to be the right-wing members of the NRP, until they split off.

This party should not be confused with Meimad, which is made up of those who used to be the left-wing members of the NRP, until they split off, and joined the Labor Party. It has since left Labor, and has joined the even farther left-wing party, Meretz.

Moledet is an non-religious, nationalist party, now headed by... a rabbi, MK Benny Elon.

Ach"i used to be known as the Torah Zionism Party, the third break off from the NRP. Co-founder MK Effie Eitam recently left Ach"i, and was headed for a run for the Likud Party list. Even though about six months ago, he had criticized Moshe Feiglin's strategy for doing the same.

Confused?

Meanwhile, Moledet faction member MK Aryeh Eldad, has quit, and has joined the new, non-religious, nationalist HaTikvah Party.

Wait a minute,...now he is proposing that the HaTikvah Party join up with the newly formed Jewish Home Party. Um,...so why did he quit in the first place??

And which "Jewish Home" faction will HaTikvah join anyway?

It looks like the National Union may end up leaving the Jewish Home Party, in other words, leaving the re-invented NRP. No, I'm not talking about the November threats to split the party; these are the more recent threats, or rather the "suggestions," as they seem to be calling them these days.

Still confused?

Hang on... Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe (Chaba"d) and Baruch Marzel (National Jewish Front) are expected to meet Sunday afternoon to discuss the formation of a new right wing political party (IsraelNN.com).

Will the presence of several small right-wing parties shoot the right-wing in the foot? Will this help the Likud, or just put Kadima back into power?

Will they continue to fight, and even demonize, each other, and lose miserably in yet another national election?

Will newly-appointed head of the Jewish Home Party, Rabbi Daniel Hershkowitz ever stop evading the question as to whether he rejects further territorial concessions and evictions of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria?

Will the Israeli public ever snap out of it delusion, and realize that without the National Union, the National Religious Party is neither national nor religious nor even a party?

Will the various right-wing factions pull together, and attain a realistic presence in the Knesseth?

Could it be that Tully Fiqrash, writing in the "national religious" newspaper HaTzofeh (Hebrew), is actually correct in stating...

    ...once again, it has become clear that the struggle is not over ideology, but rather about seats [in Knesseth] and honor, not conceptual but personal....

Will Moshe Feiglin finally realize that no matter how long he plays by the rules, and wins, "they" (eg. Likud, Israeli Supreme Court, Israel's shadow government, etc.) will simply change the rules?

Will a Sanhedrin be accepted, a king appointed, and work begin on the Mizbe'ah (altar) and Miqdash (Temple), thus canceling the need to participate in this [not even good enough to be called] "Hellenist process?"

Stay tuned...

[Spectator]

בס"ד

It is very sad that national and religious Jewish parties in Israel cannot overcome personal and factional disputes and unite.

This is the main reason why so few people vote them. I think there are many people who share their ideology but are averted from them due to the poor organization and lack of discipline.

I think the Shas party is ideal in this aspect. All thier Knesset members, including the leader Eli Yishay, are "only" students of Rabbi Ovadya Yosef. They only inform him on current issues, evrey one in his field. Then the Rabbi and the Moetzet Hachamei haTorah (the Council of Torah Sages) issue the Halachic decree for the discussed situation. After that, the only thing Shas MKs are concered with is to promote the decree in the Knesset.

It should be noted that Rabbi Ovadya Yosef is an outstanding Torah scholar, one of the spiritual leaders of our generation and the highest halachic authority for the Sephardi Jews.

The unity within Shas gives the party such a power that sometimes it manges to promote its policy even while being outnumbered by the leftists who are immersed in factional and pesonal strife.

The Shas has done much for the spreading Torah wisdom among secular Jews.

Recently, the Shas became also more concerned with natonal issues. While being in Olmert's government, they harshly opposed his intentions to divide Jerusalem and actually sabotaged them. They support Hebron Jews in their struggle for the right to live in the city of the Forefathers.

In my mind, this party is potentially capable of becoming a common denominator for all national and religious movements in Israel, from Yahadut haTorah to Moledet and haTikva.

Although I am Ashkenazi/Russian Jew, I have to admit the Shas is currently the best party in Israel.

UNITY AND THE JEWISH WAY !