The Chabad rabbinical court calls on adherents not to vote for parties that weren't in the last Knesset and won't make it into the next Knesset. Marzel says his party will receive the necessary minimum.
The official Chabad-Lubavitch Beit Din (court) issued an announcement last night not to vote for any party that has no chance of passing the minimum threshold and that did not serve in the outgoing Knesset. The reference is to Marzel's Hazit party.
The announcement states that it is obligatory to vote in next week's election for a party "that will not lend a hand to giving away land and destruction of Jewish communities, Heaven forbid, in accordance with Jewish Law as written in the Shulchan Arukh O.C. 329... One must not vote for a party that has no chance of passing the minimum threshold, especially after this rate was raised [recently from 1.5% to 2%] ... One must vote only for lists that served in the last Knesset and whose representatives will serve, please G-d, in the next Knesset."
Marzel himself announced this morning that over 57,000 people have committed themselves to vote for his party. The number is based on people who sent in SMS messages or otherwise said they plan to vote for Hazit. Marzel said that, contrary to the claims of rival parties such as the National Union/NRP, this means he will in fact obtain the minimum number of votes needed to receive Knesset representation - 2% of valid votes.
It is widely assumed that over 65,000 votes will be needed to enter the Knesset; the precise total will be determined based on the number of those who actually cast valid votes.
Veteran right-wing activist Yaakov Novik of Jerusalem said today that, in his opinion, the nationalist parties are making a tactical mistake by fighting against Marzel. "Many thousands of people are going to vote for him no matter what," Novick said, "and therefore we should do what we can to rescue these votes. Keep in mind that his voters are not necessarily those who would have voted for the National Union/NRP, but rather also for Shas and UTJ - and very many of them are those who would not have voted at all. Certainly voters who are not planning to vote should be persuaded to vote for Marzel."
Not all Chabad rabbis agree with the Chabad court's decree, and it is assumed that many Chabadniks will in fact vote for Marzel's Hazit.
Rabbi Menachem Brod, editor of the popular weekly Chabad Torah sheet, is not taking a position. He wrote in his last weekly commentary just that everyone who opposes the Kadima plan for more withdrawals and expulsions, for whatever reason, must "go out and vote, and convince all your friends and relatives who opposed the expulsion to do the same. If you don't want to see more terrible scenes of destruction, don't sit at home; go out and act."
Marzel said today that if elected to the Knesset, he would recommend to the President that Netanyahu be charged with forming the next government - on condition that Netanyahu promise not to give away any land. Marzel said that the Likud had approached him about forming a right-wing bloc in this manner; a Likud spokesman later denied that the Likud had spoken to Marzel about this.
In other religious-camp news, an independent study has found that the National Religious Party was by far the most active in social and welfare issues in the outgoing Knesset. The number-one Knesset Member in terms of social issues was Gila Finkelstein of the NRP, and in third place was her party colleague MK Sha'ul Yahalom. Finkelstein expressed satisfaction at the findings, noting that it was a scientific study and not merely a poll. The study was carried out by Professors Asher Ben-Aryeh and Naomi Friedman of Hebrew University.
The official Chabad-Lubavitch Beit Din (court) issued an announcement last night not to vote for any party that has no chance of passing the minimum threshold and that did not serve in the outgoing Knesset. The reference is to Marzel's Hazit party.
The announcement states that it is obligatory to vote in next week's election for a party "that will not lend a hand to giving away land and destruction of Jewish communities, Heaven forbid, in accordance with Jewish Law as written in the Shulchan Arukh O.C. 329... One must not vote for a party that has no chance of passing the minimum threshold, especially after this rate was raised [recently from 1.5% to 2%] ... One must vote only for lists that served in the last Knesset and whose representatives will serve, please G-d, in the next Knesset."
Marzel himself announced this morning that over 57,000 people have committed themselves to vote for his party. The number is based on people who sent in SMS messages or otherwise said they plan to vote for Hazit. Marzel said that, contrary to the claims of rival parties such as the National Union/NRP, this means he will in fact obtain the minimum number of votes needed to receive Knesset representation - 2% of valid votes.
It is widely assumed that over 65,000 votes will be needed to enter the Knesset; the precise total will be determined based on the number of those who actually cast valid votes.
Veteran right-wing activist Yaakov Novik of Jerusalem said today that, in his opinion, the nationalist parties are making a tactical mistake by fighting against Marzel. "Many thousands of people are going to vote for him no matter what," Novick said, "and therefore we should do what we can to rescue these votes. Keep in mind that his voters are not necessarily those who would have voted for the National Union/NRP, but rather also for Shas and UTJ - and very many of them are those who would not have voted at all. Certainly voters who are not planning to vote should be persuaded to vote for Marzel."
Not all Chabad rabbis agree with the Chabad court's decree, and it is assumed that many Chabadniks will in fact vote for Marzel's Hazit.
Rabbi Menachem Brod, editor of the popular weekly Chabad Torah sheet, is not taking a position. He wrote in his last weekly commentary just that everyone who opposes the Kadima plan for more withdrawals and expulsions, for whatever reason, must "go out and vote, and convince all your friends and relatives who opposed the expulsion to do the same. If you don't want to see more terrible scenes of destruction, don't sit at home; go out and act."
Marzel said today that if elected to the Knesset, he would recommend to the President that Netanyahu be charged with forming the next government - on condition that Netanyahu promise not to give away any land. Marzel said that the Likud had approached him about forming a right-wing bloc in this manner; a Likud spokesman later denied that the Likud had spoken to Marzel about this.
In other religious-camp news, an independent study has found that the National Religious Party was by far the most active in social and welfare issues in the outgoing Knesset. The number-one Knesset Member in terms of social issues was Gila Finkelstein of the NRP, and in third place was her party colleague MK Sha'ul Yahalom. Finkelstein expressed satisfaction at the findings, noting that it was a scientific study and not merely a poll. The study was carried out by Professors Asher Ben-Aryeh and Naomi Friedman of Hebrew University.