Rabbi Chaim Navon today addressed the public debate on the rabbis' letter, and said that Ayelet Shaked was "the most suitable to head a union of all parties to the right of the Likud."
In his Facebook account, Rabbi Navon wrote: "Ayelet Shaked is perhaps the most popular politician in Israel, and certainly the most popular politician in religious Zionism, and rightly so. I think it is most appropriate that she head a union of all parties to the right of the Likud."
"It's true that she's not observant, but I don't see why it's relevant," says Rabbi Navon.
"Politics isn't the essence of our being," he wrote, "it's important, but not the most important; it's just another important field of activity, alongside other important arenas. When I cast my vote for the Knesset, as a religious Zionist, it's less important to me who lives as a religious Zionist, and more important to me who can advance the values of religious Zionism.
"Ayelet Shaked is traditional and not religious, but it seems to me that no politician has promoted the values of religious Zionism more than she has. If there's a future chance for fruitful cooperation between national religious and other sectors in the political field, that's how it will look."
Rabbi Chaim Navon is a prolific author, well respected columnist for the Hebrew-language newspaper Makor Rishon, and a popular lecturer and teacher.