Hotovely with Rabis Brander and Taharlev
Hotovely with Rabis Brander and TaharlevGershon Ellinson

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) on Monday visited Midreshet Lindenbaum of the Ohr Torah Stone network and addressed the 200 students of the Midrasha.

"We are on the eve of an election where the ideological issue is being hidden from the public and only the personal issues are being dealt with," said Hotovely, who called to "bring the ideological discourse back to the center of the stage and realize that the debate between us and our political rivals is about the identity of the state and the wholeness of the land. The focus on the Prime Minister’s issues is a mask behind which there is a dangerous leftist ideology."

Hotovely also said that "there is tremendous value for a religious Zionist presence in a party that represents the majority of the people of Israel. Religious Zionism has always carried the flag of integration and not the flag of segregation and this should be the way in politics as well."

As a graduate of the Midrasha, she told participants, "The Beit Midrash accompanies us daily. The values ​​I received here accompany me in my public work. I therefore call on you to show political involvement and to know that the Torah leadership that grows here must be reflected in all aspects of life, including in the political sphere."

During the visit of the Deputy Minister, a major emphasis was placed on the connection between Israel and the Diaspora, a connection that the Ohr Torah Stone network, which has emissaries in Jewish communities all over the world, is engaged in.

Rabbi Kenneth Brander, President and Rosh Yeshiva of the Ohr Torah Stone network, and the head of the Midrasha, Rabbi Ohad Taharlev, thanked Deputy Minister Hotovely for her visit.

Rabbi Brander said, "There is no doubt that the relationship between the State of Israel and the Diaspora has been and remains a cornerstone of the building blocks of Zionism. Diaspora Jews, some of whom are confronted daily with anti-Semitic hatred, need the state's support in the fight against anti-Semitism and, more than that, in order to preserve their Jewish identity. Diaspora Jews seek to feel connected to the home, to feel that the State of Israel is their home and there is a place for them. They need us and we need them."