Some 400 members of Meimad - the left-wing religious-Zionist party - showed up at a Labor-Meimad event in Jerusalem last night featuring Amram Mitzna. Arutz-7's Effie Meir reports that Labor estimates Meimad's contribution to the election campaign as worth 1-1.5 Knesset seats, and has thus reserved two seats - one realistic, one not - for Meimad on the Labor list.
Labor leader Mitzna was warmly greeted by the crowd. After expressing his distaste for religious parents who bring up their children in the "hell" of Judea and Samaria, he said he was happy to meet with people who are both religious and sensible: "Meimad is the answer to a commonly-held perception of late that religious automatically means right-wing, extreme, and stultified thought. You represent the opposite, and this is the importance of your bonds with the Labor Party."
Correspondent Meir noted that shortly after promising to evacuate the residents of Judea and Samaria against their will, Mitzna attacked the [left-wing anti-religious] Shinui party for demanding forced conscription of yeshiva students into the army: "We cannot have one sector forcing its will on another sector," he said.
Much was stated at the gathering about the "historic alliance" between Meimad and Labor, though Meimad is in the midst of a break-up over precisely that issue. Leading Meimad members who quit the party after the arrangement to run jointly with Labor was made say that the original Labor-Meimad alliance of 1999 grew out of necessity, while now Meimad seems to be approaching it as something desirable.
MK Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, one of those who recently resigned, explained to Arutz-7's B'Sheva newspaper:
"In the previous election, our merger with Labor was indicated because Barak placed himself in the center, while Netanyahu… represented the extreme right-wing. Our joining Labor was a statement of principle. This time, however, it's Sharon who is talking about unity, while Mitzna is stammering."
Gilad feels that MK Rabbi Melchior is dragging Meimad all the way to the left, when really it should be making its voice known from the center. In addition to Gilad, Rabbis Shmuel Reiner, Shlomo Brin, and Yair Kahn have announced their resignations, as well as Chaim Ripple, who was #2 on the original Meimad list in 1988; former NRP MK Dr. Yehuda Ben-Meir; and almost the entire membership of the Rehovot, Haifa and Petach Tikvah chapters. Rabbi Dr. Danny Tropper is considering leaving, and founder Rabbi Yehuda Amital is said to be planning to leave after the elections.
Labor leader Mitzna was warmly greeted by the crowd. After expressing his distaste for religious parents who bring up their children in the "hell" of Judea and Samaria, he said he was happy to meet with people who are both religious and sensible: "Meimad is the answer to a commonly-held perception of late that religious automatically means right-wing, extreme, and stultified thought. You represent the opposite, and this is the importance of your bonds with the Labor Party."
Correspondent Meir noted that shortly after promising to evacuate the residents of Judea and Samaria against their will, Mitzna attacked the [left-wing anti-religious] Shinui party for demanding forced conscription of yeshiva students into the army: "We cannot have one sector forcing its will on another sector," he said.
Much was stated at the gathering about the "historic alliance" between Meimad and Labor, though Meimad is in the midst of a break-up over precisely that issue. Leading Meimad members who quit the party after the arrangement to run jointly with Labor was made say that the original Labor-Meimad alliance of 1999 grew out of necessity, while now Meimad seems to be approaching it as something desirable.
MK Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, one of those who recently resigned, explained to Arutz-7's B'Sheva newspaper:
"In the previous election, our merger with Labor was indicated because Barak placed himself in the center, while Netanyahu… represented the extreme right-wing. Our joining Labor was a statement of principle. This time, however, it's Sharon who is talking about unity, while Mitzna is stammering."
Gilad feels that MK Rabbi Melchior is dragging Meimad all the way to the left, when really it should be making its voice known from the center. In addition to Gilad, Rabbis Shmuel Reiner, Shlomo Brin, and Yair Kahn have announced their resignations, as well as Chaim Ripple, who was #2 on the original Meimad list in 1988; former NRP MK Dr. Yehuda Ben-Meir; and almost the entire membership of the Rehovot, Haifa and Petach Tikvah chapters. Rabbi Dr. Danny Tropper is considering leaving, and founder Rabbi Yehuda Amital is said to be planning to leave after the elections.