Union of Right-Wing Parties (URP) made a last-minute campaign promise, saying they will reduce the supplementary payments parents will have to pay for children in religious-Zionist schools.
By LAHAV HARKOVActivist of Otzma Yehudit and the URP block the Kerem Shalom crossing(photo credit: OTZMA YEHUDIT)
Union of Right-Wing Parties (URP) made a last-minute campaign promise, saying they will reduce the supplementary payments parents will have to pay for children in religious-Zionist schools.URP leader Rafi Peretz said “everyone knows to say that we have free and compulsory education, but in practicality, parent payments have become unreasonable. As a father of 12 children, I know what it entails. The time has come for real equality between Israeli students.”And a leaked recording of URP candidate MK Bezalel Smotrich indicated Peretz will have the power to keep that promise. In comments from a closed parlor meeting played on Channel 12, Smotrich confirmed what had been previously reported: "We made clear agreements with Netanyahu to receive two senior portfolios...It was very clear we'll keep theEducationn and Justice Ministries...they're not [Education Minister] Naftali Bennett's personal portfolios."As for Netanyahu's denial of that promise, and repeated commitment to the Likud keeping the education portfolio for itself, Smotrich said: "Everyone has their campaign considerations, it's OK."Likud's spokesman continued to deny such an agreement exists.Meanwhile, Itamar Ben-Gvir of Otzma Yehudit, which is in a “technical bloc” with the other parties in URP and running a separate campaign, released a video calling for voters to make sure they get seven seats so he becomes an MK. The cartoon shows Ben-Gvir on a rising platform that stops at just below seven, and Supreme Court justices and MK Ahmed Tibi rejoice. Then, someone votes URP, the platform passes seven, and Ben-Gvir pounces on them.Ben-Gvir also sent a letter to the “hilltop youth” and their families, reminding them that he defended them in court and promising to continue to fight for them in the Knesset if they vote for him – even though the hilltop youth tend not to vote at all.
