Meir Porush
Meir PorushFlash 90

After haredi MKs from the Degel Hatorah faction declared their opposition to the Regulation Law (Normalization Law), Deputy Minister and fellow UTJ member Meir Porush distanced himself from his colleagues' statements, emphasizing that protecting the land of Israel was and had always been a key value for UTJ.

In an Arutz Sheva interview, Porush said "We will do everything to ensure that the haredi vote will unite on this vital issue."

On the eve of the first reading of the law UTJ MKs tried to flex their muscles and declared that they had not decided who to support regarding the Regulation Law. Degel Hatorah traditionally leans left on national issues and, regarding legal proposals like this one, are wont to abstain or oppose them claiming that they "agitate the nations of the world."

Despite these statements, in the plenary session of the Knesset on Wednesday they supported the law due to coalition obligations.

Porush criticized MK Gafni and the other members of Degel Hatorah and said that this was a sensitive and painful issue. "I didn't like the superfluous statements of my friends in UTJ, who declared their opposition to the Regulation Law and to the communities in Judea and Samaria. This is such a sensitive and painful issue, evacuating Jews from their homes, and they knew that there would inevitably be coalition discipline on this issue and they would anyway have to vote for the law."