MK Menachem Mozes
MK Menachem MozesFlash 90

As a result of the deal between the Western powers and Iran to limit Tehran's uranium enrichment program, Israel is more isolated now that it has been in years – and that, according to United Torah Jewry MK Menachem Eliezer Mozes, is a Divine punishment against Israel for its treatment of the hareidi religious community.

Speaking from the podium of the Knesset Monday, Mozes addressed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu saying “now when the whole world has abandoned you and signed a deal with Iran, you feel isolated, and say that the world does not understand Israel's security concerns or needs."

“How are you handling this? Is it difficult? So for your information, Mr. Prime Minister, we in the hareidi religious community are used to feeling like this,” Mozes said. “We are used to being left behind, to being left alone, to having no one listen to us or understand us. We are used to being boycotted, to being delegitimized.”

As the state and society in Israel does to the hareidi-religious community, so has G-d arranged to do to them, said Mozes, using the term midah keneged midah-  “measure for measure” - a religious concept that describes G-d's reward or punishment in kind for actions undertaken by Jews. “This is measure for measure,” he said. “If you expect the world not to boycott us, you must ensure that the Israeli public does not 'boycott' the hareidi religious community.”

Speaking Sunday, Netanyahu called the deal with Iran “a bad one that gives Iran what it wanted: the partial lifting of sanctions while maintaining an essential part of its nuclear program," a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said. “The agreement allows Iran to continue to enrich uranium, leaves the centrifuges in place and allows it to produce fissile material for a nuclear weapon,” the statement said, adding that “economic pressure on Iran could have produced a much better agreement.”

Many aspects of the agreement have not been finalized, but among its highlights is an agreement by Iran to freeze for a six month period some of its nuclear activities in exchange for partial and limited relief of the sanctions that have been imposed on it. The lifting of those sanctions is expected to pump between $4 and $5 billion into the Iranian economy. In addition, Iran will be allowed to continue to enrich uranium to a level 3.5%, but will not be allowed to add to its stockpile of enriched uranium, and would have to move some of its enriched material to a third country.