MK Avigdor Lieberman, Chairman of the Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) party, invited the leaders of the religious parties to meet with him in his office on Monday afternoon. The goal: to explore ways in which their differing views on topics such as civil marriage in Israel might be overcome so as to pave the way for a stable nationalist government.
The parties are set to become members of the government that Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu is seeking to form. Last-minute surprises could still develop, however, and Kadima and/or Labor might suddenly decide to join the government – thus lessening the influence, if any, of the smaller parties.
Yisrael Beiteinu is the third-largest party in the Knesset, with 15 seats. It was originally founded on behalf of the Russian immigrant community, but has come to attract many strongly right-wing nationalist voters. Only Kadima (28) and Likud (27) have more Knesset mandates.
Demands Civil Marriage and More
Lieberman’s demands include legislation allowing civil marriages in Israel - an idea adamantly opposed by the religious parties. They see rabbinate control over marriage as the only way to guarantee that all Jews can marry each other. If marriages and divorces are effected without rabbinate supervision, it is feared that many children will be born into “illegitimacy,” forbidden for marriage to other Jews.
Lieberman also seeks an end to rabbinate control over conversion to Judaism, preference in offering jobs and education to veterans of the army and national service, and governmental reform.
Ketzaleh: Differences Will be Ironed Out
MK Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh), head of the National Union, said afterwards, “The meeting was very positive, and we decided that we would make sure to iron out our differences in order to pave the way for a well-functioning government headed by Binyamin Netanyahu that will last until the next elections four and a half years from now.”
Also present were Rabbi Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz (Jewish Home), MK Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism), and MK Yaakov Margi (Shas).
“The meeting took place in a good atmosphere,” Lieberman said. “There was a will to find solutions in a positive manner. It must be understood that there is only one way, and that is to be considerate of each other and find a common denominator.”
“We won’t be able to find answers to 100% of our demands,” Lieberman said, “but together we can find some of them. We agreed to meet again later this week, and we all agreed that the way to work together is via dialogue and an attempt to cooperate, rather than just speaking ideology.”