Likud, UTJ coalition deal to freeze status quo on religion and state
The basis of the coalition agreement is very similar to those which were drafted after the April and September elections.
By JEREMY SHARONPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UTJ leader Yaakov Litzman attend the weekly cabinet meeting, January 2020.(photo credit: ALEX KOLOMOISKY / POOL)
The coalition agreement being worked out between Likud and United Torah Judaism will guarantee that the status quo on matters of religion and state will be preserved during the course of the new government.This means that no changes will be made to sensitive issues such as civil marriage, commercial activity on Shabbat, Jewish conversion, prayer rights at the Western Wall, and other such matters without the full agreement of all parties, meaning that no changes are likely to be made at all during the course of the next government.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu together with senior Likud MK and minister Yariv Levin spoke with UTJ leaders (Health Minister) Yaakov Litzman and senior UTJ MK Moshe Gafni on Wednesday evening to discuss the coalition agreement between the two sides.The basis of the coalition agreement is very similar to those which were drafted after the April and September elections.Although the coalition deal will stipulate that new changes to the status quo cannot be made without full coalition agreement, UTJ’s eighth placed Knesset candidate Yitzhak Findrus told The Jerusalem Post that his party would consider it legitimate to advance legislation to rectify damage done to the status quo on such matters, such as a court ruling.The Shabbat public transportation networks which have been established in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, and other cities in the country’s central district in recent months would be an example of that, Findrus said, since these initiatives violate the religion and state status quo.In general however, Findrus said that UTJ was not at ease with the attitude of Blue and White and its leader Benny Gantz to religion and state issues, and said the party was not concerned that there would be attempts to advance legislation on such matters that counter UTJ’s positions.Findrus noted that the party leaders who have campaigned heavily on reforming and liberalizing the religion and state status quo, Yisrael Beytenu leader MK Avigdor Liberman and Yesh Atid leader MK Yair Lapid will not be in the government and said consensus would be easier without them.Liberman insisted throughout the September 2019 and March 2020 campaigns that issues pertaining to Shabbat observance in the public domain be put under the control of local authorities; demanded legislation to provide for civil marriage in Israel; measures to make Orthodox conversion more accessible and approachable; and wanted to require ultra-Orthodox elementary schools to teach core curriculum studies as a condition for receiving state-funding.Blue and White leaders, including Gantz before the split from Yesh Atid, regularly stated that the party would implement the Western Wall agreement for a state-recognized prayer section for non-Orthodox Jews, pledged to implement civil unions, a form of civil marriage, and promised to make Jewish conversion more accessible.There is however no mention of these issues whatsoever in Blue and White’s coalition deal with the Likud.Findrus said “There won’t be a party in the coalition who we are afraid will start barking on these issues, so we’re pretty calm.”
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