hanging Litzman out to dry

The other day, Minister Yaakov Litzman tossed out a major threat to the air. Litzman threatened that if a decision will be taken to order a full closure for the upcoming High Holidays, for the entire Tishrei set of holidays (Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and Sukkos), UTJ will consider resigning from the government. Then in the Hamodia newspaper he extended the threat saying that he coordinated with the head of Shas, Aryeh Deri and they will resign if a closure is ordered.

Now Litzman is being hung out to dry. Anonymous senior officials in UTJ (they always stay anonymous for some reason) are saying Litzman said that on his own without consulting anyone else int he party or the gedolim who lead the party. Even within Litzman's own Agudat Yisrael faction of UTJ they rejected his threat saying there has been no such decision to leave the coalition or to make such a threat over a closure, and Litzman does not have enough votes to force his opinion on the party. A senior in the Degel Hatorah faction said Litzman can't just speak in all our names without asking and discussing it.

And now the Shas people are also rejecting Litzman's threat. MK Busso of Shas said on the radio this morning that nothing was coordinated with Minister Deri, the only one in the Shas party who can make such a decision. The way of Shas is not one of threats and crises. 

Litzman until now has thrown his threats around generally in regards to government Shabbos observance. This si new territory for him. It seemed out of place, to me, initially - especially because of the closure he and Netanyahu ordered over Pesach, and it makes sense that his own people are rejecting it. The question is if this will hurt his standing in the party. The threat itself is now emptier than it ever was to begin with.

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