Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev of the National Religious Party, who has indicated that he and his party are on their way out of the government because of the Rabbinical Courts crisis, has called on the Chief Rabbis of Israel to resign in protest as well. The NRP's Knesset Members demonstratively walked out on an important Knesset vote this afternoon, showing that the crisis is genuine and that their threat to quit the coalition is real.
The crisis was kicked off yesterday when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reneged on a promise he made to the NRP, and decided that the Rabbinical Courts would come under the jurisdiction of the Justice Ministry. The Courts are currently an independent judicial body in the Religious Affairs Ministry, which is scheduled for dismantling by the end of the year.
The NRP, as well as the hareidi parties, the Chief Rabbis, and others, are up in arms at the decision giving Justice Minister Tommy Lapid of the extremely anti-religious Shinui party authority over the religious court system. Some liken it to entrusting Palestinian Authority affairs in the hands of Tourism Minister Benny Elon, who stands for dismantling the PA, or giving control of the Defense Ministry to Arafat-confidant MK Ahmed Tibi. Minister Lapid has made no secret of his animosity for the religious establishment, and in fact welcomed yesterday's decision as a "victory for the secular revolution."
Minister Orlev, who answered web-surfers' questions on the Hebrew new-site Ynet today, responded to a query about the Chief Rabbis with a strong recommendation for them to resign:
"I have no doubt that if the Prime Minister had believed that the Rabbis would resign, there would never have been a problem. I don't think there is a Jewish Prime Minister who would be able to stand up to the resignation of the Chief Rabbis of Israel... I definitely call on the Chief Rabbis to tell the Prime Minister that... they will be unable to continue in their positions. I can't see a situation in which the NRP ministers quit over a mortal blow to the religious legal system and the trampling of the honor of the Chief Rabbis - while the Rabbis themselves continue in their jobs as if nothing had happened."
Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar in fact said yesterday that he is considering resigning his post if the decision is not changed.