UTJ brings as much as Shas

The fighting for jobs, authority, ministries and responsibilities, is at its height right now.

I don't intend to talk about demands made in public by various parties, because it is all jockeying for positions and bluffing and negotiations with parties saying one thing and hoping they get something else. Everything said in public right now has a purpose and is not necessarily true on its own out of context.

However, Moshe Gafni said something interesting, and it was not about what job or role they are demanding. Gafni said that after every election during coalition negotiations, UTJ fights for clauses and agreements that will be to the benefit of the Haredi community and the Torah velt, and in exchange UTJ always even gives up jobs in exchange for agreements on different issues important to them. Gafni continues, Deri then comes along and does a copy paste and puts the same agreements in his agreement, and takes credit for what he achieved for the Haredi sector but also then tells the Likud that they require more jobs and more budget allocations. This time, Gafni says, we will not take a drop less than Shas - we will not give up on any little thing we are deserving of, even the level of positions offered - nothing less than what Shas gets.

And Gafni is right. I dont know if he is right about Deri just taking credit for what UTJ accomplished. I have no idea, but I wouldn't put it past him - I wouldn't put it past any politician. But he is right about demanding equal roles, equal ministries, equal jobs, equal budgets, equal responsibilities.

Both parties, Shas and UTj, are bringing 8 potential mandates to a coalition. One is not better than the other. The more mandates, the more positions. When they both have 8, they both should get the same amount of roles and responsibilities. There is no reason UTJ should take a back seat to Shas or to any other party.

And they are not hurting Shas by saying this. They just need to negotiate to get the positions they want and stand strong. it won't be easy. Each and every party has demands, many conflicting with the demands of other parties, and Netanyahu's people will need to put a coalition together like a jigsaw puzzle agreeing to some demands and refusing others, but from the perspective of the parties, UTJ is bringing as much to the table as Shas is..

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