The two religious-Zionist Knesset factions toured together today (Monday) for the first time since last year’s elections. They visited two national religious centers: Machon Meir yeshiva in Kiryat Moshe, Jerusalem, and the Crisis Center for Religious Women.
From the National Union, party leader Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh), MK Uri Ariel, MK Michael Ben-Ari and Baruch Marzel took part, and the Jewish Home was represented by party head Rabbi Dr. Daniel Herskovitz and MK Uri Orbach. Only MKs Zevulun Orlev and Aryeh Eldad did not take part.
They first met with Rabbi Dov Begun, Dean of Yeshivat Machon Meir, the flagship yeshiva of religious Zionism for beginners in Judaism; many students of Machon Meir have gone on to become leading rabbis and teachers in yeshivot around the country.
Speaking of teshuvah, repentance, Rabbi Begun said smilingly that there is no greater teshuvah than coming back together, “and it will have a very positive impact on all of Israel.” All the participants emphasized that though there may be disagreements among the religious public, the goal is for the two parties to unite at least for the coming national elections.
Ketzaleh said that the elections could come sooner than thought. “I believe that in light of the way the Prime Minister is acting, the Jewish Home will not be able to remain in the government much longer, and neither will some members of Netanyahu’s own Likud party, and Israel will once again face new elections. By working together, we will be able to present a large nationalist bloc that will win a double-digit number of Knesset mandates.”
MK Uri Orbach, who worked together with MK Ariel to organize the joint trip, said, “Love begins first of all at home, and this place – Machon Meir – is symbolic of that goal of togetherness and running together as one bloc.”
“Disagreements are a natural – and important – part of life,” said MK Herskovitz. “In every marriage there are disagreements. The Torah said that Israel camped together ‘with one heart,’ not ‘with one opinion.’”
MK Ben-Ari said, “The Land of Israel is ours, and the charge of the hour is to work together in one united bloc for the purpose of the Nation of Israel in the Land of Israel according to the Torah of Israel.”
Overcoming History
Though the religious Zionist camp has long had two separate parties, the split in the current Knesset is all the more jarring because it followed months of fruitless pre-election efforts to combine them. Both the National Religious Party and the National Union agreed to disband for the purpose of forming the new “Jewish Home” party in late 2008, and an agreed-upon body of 39 leading religious-Zionists was to select the party leader and Knesset candidates. However, the more hawkish members felt alienated by several decisions made in quick succession by the body – especially the formulation of a “top ten” list of Knesset candidates that did not, in the National Union’s eyes, fairly mirror the balance of power in the outgoing Knesset, in which the NRP had three MKs and the NU had twice as many.
As a result, the former National Union MKs left the Jewish Home, re-created its party, and asked Ketzaleh to lead them. He has long called for renewed efforts to unify the ranks, and additional voices have joined him in recent months.