Jan 7, 2009

Should he keep his mouth shut?

The secular people generally do not appreciate it when Haredi leadership encourages war activities. It is similar to people living outside of Israel telling Israel how to act, telling Israelis what to do, etc. If you don't live here, some say, your opinion does not matter. The same with the army, some say - if you (and yours) don't serve in the army, your opinion doesn't matter and should be kept to yourself.

Eli Yishai, director of Shas, gave an interview to a Haredi media outlet in which he called for flattening Gaza completely. Destroying thousands of houses, and the whole tunnel network Hamas has developed under Gaza.

Yishai said,
We have to flatten Gaza - so they don't start with us any more... Today we have tremendous strength - something we have not had in decades. We have fellowship and unity - in a way I don't remember for many years... This sends a signal of strength to the other side, and they understand we are strong...
We can destroy Gaza completely, so they don't mess with us anymore.

Many agree, but does Eli Yishai have a right to say this?

I think yes.

As a senior minister in the government, it does not matter that [a large portion of] his sector does not serve in the army. As minister he has responsibility to express his opinion on what the right thing to do is, whether or not you agree with that opinion. His responsibility as a minister, a senior minister, is to all of Israel, not just to his sector.

I hope he remembers that in other realms as well, that, as minister, he needs to represent all of Israel, and not just his narrow sector.
at

6 comments:

  1. Eli DukerJanuary 07, 2009 11:44 AM

    Eli Yishai served his full three year term in the army, and I would imagine most Shas voters have as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Commenter AbbiJanuary 07, 2009 12:02 PM

    i was going to say shas isn't charedi in this respect. Many if not most shas voters serve in the army

    ReplyDelete
  3. Eli DukerJanuary 07, 2009 2:57 PM

    The problim is that Gimmel is elected to the Knesset, and feels uncomfortable taking any positions regarding national security because of the arguments you mentioned. That's why their approach to the Sharon plan was incoherent.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJanuary 07, 2009 7:48 PM

    Not at all sure that most Shas party members don't go to the army. Isn;t Shas mainly a S'fardi party and not just Hareidi? A substantial part of their constituency is not Hareidi.

    So, for being a Senior Minister, as well as having served in the IDF (as Eli pointed out), he's got a right, that I hold, that we all have to voice the opinion he did.

    The problem with Yishai is that he's part of the problem (derelict leadership) and not part of the solution.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJanuary 07, 2009 9:39 PM

    the arab ministers don't express their opinions and they do serve in the army?:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJanuary 07, 2009 9:59 PM

    Every respondent I think is correct as are you Rafi. But even if it was a guy saying these things whose families/followers don't serve he could say them.We are different than anyother country in the world--we need a Jewish army and a learning army: you and your brothers all belonged to the tzvious H'shem. And anyone who still doesn't believe in miracles needs to explain how 6,000 kassams and mortars can fall on a tiny country with so few--tho tragic--injuries and deaths.

    ReplyDelete