-- Ofer Vinter

Vinter has been a bit of an unknown and enigma and I have seen much assumed about him and those assumptions have made him well liked, including in the more right wing part of the Haredi community... Vinter is going on the attack here as he camppaigns for the upcoming elections... we'lll see what the fallout is for going ont he attack against the Haredi representatives, even if what he is saying is true (and it is, obviously)

MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ), spent the morning in Bet Shemesh at a ceremony for the opening of a new school building. Interestingly, despite the visit by Gafni, a lot of the schools (I think specifically seminaries) in Bet Shemesh did not open due to some tens of young women who were not being allowed to attend school. I dont know the exact story but it seems some of these young ladies were left out, as is unfortunately not uncommon. The municipality placed them all in varying existing schools, but those schools refuse to accept them due to ostensibly, overcrowding, and maybe other reasons. This is happening in Jerusalem as well with about 400 young ladies, and maybe in other places as well. Because of the situation, many of the seminaries are not opening as scheduled, or they are opening for all grades not including 9th grade.

MK Gafni commented calling on Shas to open more schools for the sefardi young ladies. Gafni said Shas should open more schools so your girls will have a place to study without needing to crowd into "our institutions" that are growing and do not have enough space for everyone.

Shas retorted back saying Shas's objective has always been  establish educational institutions for the glory of the Sefardi community, and thank you to Rav Gafni who clarified how important it is that Shas continue to be strong and independent and how they cannot rely on any other party to take care of them.

Besides for the general disgrace of politicized education due to educational institutions being party affiliated and controlled by political parties, this back and forth is describing clear and blatant segregation and institutionalized discrimination. 

In this exchange I think Gafni actually has the upper hand in his comments, sadly, because the exchange shows that Shas has not created enough institutions for its people, or they are creating the institutions but the people are still trying to send their kids to ashkenazi schools, so either Shas has done a poor job of it or the people just dont want to buy the segregation Shas is continuing to sell.

Shas and UTJ both need this as they both build themselves on the backs of segregation and differentation. While one can argue that today it makes no difference if one is sefardi or ashkenazi, we are all Israeli, they need that old distinction. Today there is no difference. The kids today did not grow up in Poland's shtetls or in Yemen or Algeria or in Germany or Lithuania. They all grew up in Israel learning more or less the same or very similar curriculums, living and playing together in mixed communities. Those distinctions perhaps made more sense two and three generations ago when when people were getting off the boats from different parts of the world.  Distinguishing today between people whose grandparents and great-grandparents were born in Lodz or Fez is simply blatant racism and segregation.

Perhaps we need a civil rights movement to desegregate schools like the USA in the '60s...  

  -- MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) at an election rally in Rechasim

1. they prefer no elections at all, in Gafni's own words. Don't even give the residents a choice as to who should administer their cities. Just make a deal among the politicians and the residents need not be involved at all. 

2. Let's not forget it was Degel who broke a municipal agreement and then said agreements do not need to be kept. Now they are upset that Shas no longer trusts them and decided to run their own candidates?

3. Just like Gafni has the gedolim he listens to, Deri has the gedolim he listens to. No need to say someone who isnt among the gedolim is taking revenge against the gedolim. Deri isnt among the gedolim, but he has his own gedolim in the Shas Moetzes just like Gafni has his in the Degel Moetzes. 

  -- MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ), at an cornerstone laying event in Carmiel for a school building, takes a swipe at Goldknopf...

It is not just a retort, but with municipal elections on the docket right now and a split between Degel and Aguda, there is some sharp division there between the two groups...

Quintessential Moshe Gafni in this little news item. Eichler probably would have been sharper and pulled out the entire anti-Haredi playbook, and maybe still will... but Gafni is enough for now.

The OECD criticized Israel today in its latest report. The OECD criticized Israel for its subsidies to the Haredi community saying there are wide socio-economic gaps with Haredim and Arabs under-represented in the high-tech sector and in general have low employment, low wages and high working hours...

The OECD called for the Israeli government to cut government subsidies for yeshiva students and also to condition childcare support on employment of fathers (in addition to the mothers). Improvements for the Arab sector, to improve education and child care, were also recommended.

Climate Change was also a point of criticism in the OECD report but nobody in the religious and/or right wing sector seems to care or believe in that, so we can probably just ignore it here. I dont think Gafni even commented on that part of the criticism.

In response to the critique proffered by the OECD, MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) raised the roof at a Simchas Beis Hashoeva he was attending when he demeaned the OECD report calling it a pashkevil and said he "invites the author of the pashkevil to a debate on the matter and I will tell him how the Jewish people survived thousands of years in exile with all the holocausts and problems and came back to the Land of Israel in the merit of Torah study." Gafni continued and blamed an unknown Israeli for this report saying an Israeli definitely had a hand in it as the goy cant understand this on his own and we will deal with that.

Gotta love Gafni.. 

  -- MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ)

I think he is right about some of that - the Right does not seem to know how to govern, but I do not think the Left would have fired her within five minutes. When the "Left" parties (at least the ones Gafni and his friends are calling Left) were in government, they could not even fire an Ambassador that had been appointed by a previous Netanyahu government. That was a nothing appointment but they couldn't get rid of her and bring in their own ambassador to replace her, I doubt they would have fought with the Legal Counsel of the government.

Gafni explains the significance of Har Habayit and the destruction fo the Mikdash, along with the severity of ascending Har Habayit. Gafni writes that today we are seeing more Ministers and MKs going up to Har Habayit, but with the decision being in your hands (ie PM Netanyahu's hands), Gafni requests to prevent any further ascension for both diplomatic reasons and for security reasons. Diplomatic reasons because of how countries around the world look at this situation. Security reasons because of the incitement it causes as well, especially in the Arab world. And the main reason, Gafni says, is because there is no reason to go up - it does not show any sovereignty and only causes a desecration of the holiest place.

I understand 100% where Gafni is coming from, even though I disagree with his assertions. However, if Gafni is so bothered by the desecration and wants PM Netanyahu to put an end to it, why does he not also demand the end of the desecration of the place by the Arabs? If he is just worried about protecting Jews from kareis, so he doesnt care about the divine punishment the Arabs will get from their presence and behavior there, but he doesnt say that this is his concern. he is concerned about the desecration of the place (along with the diplomatic/security fallout). If he is concerned over the desecration, at least request shutting it down to everybody forever.

Gafni also must realize what an order from Netanyahu will effect - Ben Gvir, already teetering on the edge of the coalition, would create such a ruckus over an order to stop them from ascending. Gafni must know Netanyahu will not respond positively to this because of the ramifications that would have. This letter is for show, and nothing more.

According to Walla News, a pregnant woman went for a routine visit in the Laniado Hospital in Netanya today. Today is not Pesach but the security guard at the entrance went through her bag and found a package of wafers and insisted she deposit the package at the door and can retrieve it on her way out as the hospital does not allow chametz inside. She complained in general but also because, as she said, in Netanya this hospital is the only choice - there is no other option. 

To remind you, it is not yet Pesach. In addition, Gafni "sold" his chametz law (pun intended) explaining guards will not be going through people's bags, as the law only allows hospital administrators to dissuade visitors from bringing in chametz, but not to go through their bags. It is not even Pesach yet and that is being proven wrong.

This Pesach is looking like it will be contentious, all because of a bad law. I wonder if securty guards will even be looking for guns and knives at all this Pesach, or if the chametz will be too distracting. This reminds me of the iconic scene in Airplane II

Some people are opposed to the selling of chametz because it is a scam of sorts, not a real sale, deception. Looks like Gafni sells his chametz despite the deception involved.

MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) has no accused them of being leftists because he just discovered that Moshe Koppel, the head of Kohelet, holds some beliefs that do not line up with the beliefs of the Haredi sector. Yated Neeman is reporting (so no link available, only hard copy) that some recordings from an event in NY in which Koppel spoke about different issues was made public (or it got to the hands of Gafni and some others), and Koppel seems to believe the Haredi community should not be given such handouts as they currently get, which encourage the men to not work, such as daycare subsidies, and some other subsidies. Additionally, Koppel had spoken out about some aspects of the judicial reform saying the government took it too far in a bad way such as the override clause with a simple majority (and he also pointed to this being a demand of the Haredi politicians)...

Gafni was enraged by this saying Koppel, and Kohelet, clearly doesnt understand the value of Torah learning, and they are not part of the "Right Bloc" but part of the "Left bloc". He said this person who is supposedly Right but is really Left doesnt understand the system, and I am ashamed he is our partner.

Kohelet is not part of any bloc - they are not a political party but a think tank. You dont have to agree with everything they suggest and/or say, but they analyze systems from their worldview and put together plans. You might like some and not others. 

And let's not forget, the Haredi political parties are all basically left wing parties in everything except family values. On economic issues they are left wing, and in security and Land of Israel issues they are also closer to the Left than the Right (for example see how they oppose most of Ben Gvir and Smotritch's plans such as Har Habayit, death penalty for terrorists, settling land in Judea and Samaria, etc.). The Haredi people are fairly Right wing when it comes to security and giving away land, but Rav Shach and Rav Ovadia supported "land for peace" to save lives so Haredi leadership is not nearly as right wing as many of the people. 

Instead of relating to the arguments and even disagreeing the new method, formulated by Netanyahu in the last few elections, is to just dismiss others by saying "so and so is Left"

In my opinion, this is a bad law, as most religious laws are. It is antagonistic, and while we have to see how it plays out, many online are talking about plans in response to spread chametz in public areas, including in hospitals, more than ever before. It might be a few hotheads, or it might be a mass of people, I guess we will find out in a bit over a week.

Especially without the right to check bags and confiscate chametz being brought in, what is the point of the law - just to allow hospital administrators to make an announcement? That is their big accomplishment? that is worth the price of antagonizing the secular community?

According to the proposed law, 15% of the hours of permitted bathing should be designated for gender-segregated access.

The response to this proposal has been harsh, accusing Gafni and Netanyahu of pushing Israel to becoming a halachic state. I suspect Netanyahu will choose to tell Gafni to cool it and stop proposing all these religious laws. He doesnt like them and worse his voters mostly dont like them either. Gafni might have to wait until after Netanyahu leaves the political scene and the "full right" coalition becomes a full religious coalition.

According to Gafni, in the proposal, Israel has at least 20% of the population not going into the springs and rivers because of religious reasons, of all the various religions found in Israel. These populations are discriminated against, these are State-run sites, operating in a way that causes many people to be unable to benefit from them.

1. I wonder where he came up with 20%. It might be accurate, it might be low, it might be high. I have no idea. I wonder how he got to that number. When we go on tiyulim and to water hikes and stuff, we see plenty of religious and Haredi people enjoying the springs and rivers despite the lack of segregation. I am sure many avoid it, but how do you figure out how many?

2. I think we have to define discrimination. If someone chooses to not use a service because they dont like it (for whatever reason) are they being discriminated against? If I and 50,000 other people dont like the way Bituach Leumi offers a service so we dont take advantage of it, is that discrimination or is that my own problem? If we dont like the service open to the public as it is, is it discrimination? I am not so sure it always is. That being said, it is a shame that many religious people dont have a way to benefit form the springs and rivers around the country. Knowing how tiyulim work though, I am not sure how realistic it is to come upon a river while hikling and say right now only the men can go in, it will be open for women in two hours, and the women, or men, have to wait, and when they get their turn, then it takes longer for the tiyul to get on tis way... and vice versa. this just doesnt seem practical.

MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) has now proposed a law that would prohibit anyone from bringing chametz into any hospital on Pesach. Gafni has reportedly asked PM Netanyahu to advance this proposal to become law, though we will see what Netanyahu has to say about it - he does not seem to be happy with all the religious legislation going on, and the chatter about religious policy that makes the secular and traditional in Israel very uncomfortable.

Gafni, in his proposal, stresses the significance of Pesach and the severity of the issue of chametz and says that for tens of years the hospitals did not allow chametz on premesis during Pesach, so as not to cause problems for patients who adhere to the rules of Pesach, until the Supreme Court shot that down when it was appealed, and this will cause a problem for religious patients, many who might refuse necessary health care out of concern of coming across chametz in the hospital. Gafni says the law would exclude hospitals in the non-Jewish sector that normally do not bear a kashrut certification. Patients will not be forced to eat matza, but with the advances in food technology today all foods can be produced kosher lpesach so patients will be able to eat rolls and cakes and cookies and whatnot that are all kosher lpesach.

good? bad? I dont know. In general I am not a fan of religious legislation. I think it does more harm than good for religion.

despite voting in favor of Amir Ochana's appoitnment to Director of the Knesset, MKs Moshe Gafni and Meir Porush (both UTJ) put their heads down when Ochana gave his inaugural speech. Seems a little hypocritical to vote for him but then to publicly turn away during his speech, but that's what they did...I am waiting to see if Avi Maoz did the same or not

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According to Kikar, Gafni has now put together his actual plan and has written his law proposal and is busy signing other MKs to it so he can propose it with broad support, which he says he expects to get.

According to Kikar, Gafni is now proposing that when the buyer signs on to a mortgage the interest rate will be set according to the agreement between the buyer and the bank, with the interest rate being influenced by the rate set by the Bank of Israel. Based on that the level of the monthly payments will be determined for the borrower.

With the interest rates increasingly significantly over the past year relative to recent previous years, causing the monthly payments of borrowers to increase significantly.

In order to lighten the financial load for these young couples, Gafni proposes to freeze the interest rate the borrower signs on to at the time of taking the mortgage and it will not be affected by the Bank of Israel's decision to raise interest rates. If the interest rates increase over the period of a year by more than 1% then the banks will be allowed to increase the rates on the relevant mortgages by a maximum of half the increased rate.

Financial experts say that this will not have the effect Gafni expects, as banks will find a way to circumvent the freezing (eg charging higher rates to start with to cover their risk, adding other fees, etc)

We'll see if it passes

I am not a big maven in economics so correct me if I am wrong, but I see a few problems with this. It seems to be a populist statement that will win him some points with his constituents, but in reality wont actually help and might actually hurt.

The purpose of raising the interest rates is to curb inflation. That is what the Bank of Israel has been doing the past several months. Higher interest rates means less lending and borrowing, less spending, forcing prices to go down. If interest rates on mortgages are frozen, the increase in interest rates will be almost meaningless (at least in the housing market) and prices will keep rising.

Additionally, freezing the interest rates means banks wont be able to make money (or, as much money) on their loans. They are going to just sit by and let that happen - they will change their lending terms. They will simply stop lending with variable rates. Instead of offering variable rates that won't be able to be adjusted with the interest rates because of Gafni's law, they will offer only fixed rate loans at higher rates to cover themselves, and inflation-linked loans. People wont benefit from variable rate mortgages because banks will stop offering them, or will only offer them in a limited way. 

What do you think? will such a law freezing mortgage interest rates help people buy homes and pay off their mortgages or will it hurt the buyers and the general market?

On the last day of campaigning, if this is their big message, they must be very worried about Haredi voters going to Ben Gvir in large numbers.

The statements coming out of at least a few UTJ MKs today has been to not vote for Ben Gvir because that would be sharing responsibility for someone who goes up, or encourages people to go up, to Har Habayit and are "chayevei kritut" - obligated in heavenly death of karet. Along with having a party that includes not religious people, including one who is Reform (I did not know that one of the members is Reform), so one is supporting that, and they will feel no obligation to look out for your interests.

The message is not wrong. Smotritch comes from a religious party, a "chardal" party. But Ben Gvir's party is not a religious party - it is a general right wing party. Smotritch and Ben Gvir joined a united party of the two factions together (3 if you count Noam of Avi Maoz) and it has been billed as a religiosu party, but Ben Gvir's faction was never actually considered religious, even though he himself is.

Interestingly, I am not sure voting for Ben Gvir is any more sharing responsibility than sitting with him in the same coalition and government. If he is so bad that one cannot vote for him as a chayevei kritot and supporting Reform, then one should not join the government with him and support him as minister. UTJ is putting themselves either in a serious dilemma or in a hypocritical situation. 

And the issue that was raised when Degel and Aguda almost broke up that Degel accused Aguda of sinking the ship because of the Belz educationalal stance, and Aguda accused back that Degel formed a party to join WZO and sit with the Reform (that Degel was able to vehemently reject because officially it is not Degel even though they were behind the entire thing and Degel people pushed it) will surely come back accusing Ben Gvir of sitting with Reform and his voters supporting Reform.

All this shows that UTJ is very scared of the trending of Itamar Ben Gvir and how it will affect them.

And interestignly, Benjamin Netanyahu appeared the other day with Aryeh Deri at an event, and since has also gone to Bnei Braq to try to campaign for UTJ and tell haredi voters to vote and not stay home, along with sending out "robocalls" to the Haredi kosher phones... yet when he defended himself from Ben Gvir's anger about Bibi refusing to appear on stage with him, Bibi said that during a campaign it is normal to not appear with members of another party. So he couldnt appear with Ben Gvir but he could appear with Deri and make calls for Gafni...

Gafni was quick to issue a denial saying it never happened, they havent spoken and definitely not about the gas deal. Gafni accused the press of trying to make him look like a defector and he has no intention to join any government other than one led by Netanyahu and UTJ will follow Netanyahu to the Opposition again if that is the result of the elections.

Shlezinger simply issued a response saying he respects Gafni but the talks are real and have been happening, despite Gafni's denial.

That is not even the interesting part. What happened next is where it gets interesting.

Itamar Ben Gvir attacked Gafni accusing him of preparing to sit with the Left. Gafni attacked Ben Gvir of possibly planning to sit with the Left, if it should be worthwhile, just like the previous extreme right of Matan Kahane, Bennett and Shaked did when it was deemed worthwhile by them.

Now that is funny. 

Besides for the internal fighting among the Bibi-bloc members, the accusation that Ben Gvir will form a government with Lapid and Gantz is just funny. Even if he wanted to, they would not touch him with a ten foot pole. is Otzma Yehudit party, a faction of Hatzionut Hadatit, is nothing like what Yamina and Habayit Hayehudi was. They were reincarnations of the Mafdal that always sat with any party no matter it Right or Left. They considered themselves a bridge between societies and communities. They are nothing like Ben Gvir and his party, and while some might call them extreme, they were nothing like Ben Gvir and they were never beyond the pale for the Left, form the early days of the State until today. 

Ben Gvir on the other hand is completely different. Even if he wanted to sit with Lapid, Lapid would not have him. Until a couple of months ago even Bibi refused to sit with him - that's how extreme he is.

Whether or not I believed Gafni's initial denial, and maybe it was enough to create some doubt in the initial report, his defensive accusation against Ben Gvir makes me 100% sure it is true.

  -- MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) at a campaign event

two things in that statement jump out at me. 

The obvious one is that Netanyahu also eats in treif restaurants, places that serve lobster and shrimp, yet it never bothered him or prevented him from supporting Netanyahu.

The more interesting one, to me, is that he criticized Lapid for eating treif (shrimp and lobster) rather than for being anti-haredi. Until now they always opposed Lapid because they claimed he is anti-haredi and has worked to hurt the Haredi community in many ways. That is now reserved for Liberman while Lapid is simply someone who eats treif. I dont know if it means anything, but it stands out to me.