Speaking with Arutz-7's Yigal Shok on Thursday, Porat - himself a rabbi and Torah scholar - said, "The argument over who will head the party is that which is currently holding up the unification. The claims that the issues revolve around 'difficulties in formulating the agenda,' and the Land of Israel's weight in the agenda, are merely spins for the media."
NRP sources have claimed that the National Union is placing too much emphasis on the struggle for the Land of Israel [Eretz Yisrael] for their taste, and that the NRP wishes to give more prominence to social and educational issues.
However, a talk with a close aide to NRP leader Zevulun Orlev [pictured above, right] Moshe Inbar, revealed that the personnel issue is the problem. For one complexity, the NRP originally had six MKs, while the current make-up of the National Union originally had four. The situation reversed itself when two NRP members joined the National Union. The NRP now demands equal representation in the list.
"We are coming with clean hands," Inbar told Arutz-7 today. "We say that there must be a survey carried out as to who - Benny [Elon of the National Union, pictured above left] or Zevulun [Orlev] - will bring more mandates to the joint list, and go according to its findings. Whoever is not #1, will receive the top ministerial portfolio if we join the government - hopefully the Education Ministry."
A-7: "Since Orlev wants the Education Ministry so badly, why doesn't he just agree straight out to be #2 and be the party's candidate for Education Minister?'
Inbar: "Because he wants what's best for the joint list. Perhaps if he heads the list, it would bring in more votes... We are coming with clean hands and without ultimatums; no one can say that our demands are not fair..."
A-7: "Certainly you demand surveys and equality, because you are coming to this partnership with less to offer. You have fewer MKs, and less support in the polls, and the perception that you were less opposed to the disengagement. The National Union is coming with demands because they have more to offer this partnership."
Inbar: "It depends how you look at it. The 2 MKs who joined the National Union received NRP votes, and certain sectors are very pleased with the way the NRP tried to stop the disengagement..."
Arutz-7 then spoke with Asi Talmon, a close aide to National Union MK Tzvi Hendel, who said the following:
"Look, it was clear all along that Benny Elon would head the list. We simply will not agree to a survey [to determine the #1 spot]; it will not be conclusive, it will include all sorts of voters from the left and right, and if it shows that three candidates get 10% each and Orlev gets 12%, then he'll say he should be the leader. But the fact is that many National Union voters simply will not vote for this joint list if Orlev heads it. He has spoken in favor of Avigdor Lieberman's plan [of trading parts of Arab-populated Israel for parts of Judea and Samaria], he wants to join a future government at almost any cost, he is associated with the uprooting of Jewish communities [because the NRP remained in the Sharon government until November 2004]. In addition, we ran a sharp campaign against him demanding that he leave the government. For all these reasons, he simply cannot lead our joint list, and the NRP knows this."
Rabbi Porat said that since a unification of the parties is so important, the rabbis must be more involved. He said he turned to the Chief Rabbis of Ramat Gan, Beit El and Kiryat Arba - Rabbis Yaakov Ariel, Zalman Melamed and Dov Lior - and asked them not to suffice with merely "calling" for a unification. "You must stand with your finger on the pulse," he said he told them, "and if the talks get stuck - not because of agenda problems but because of people - then, please, take the reins and respond to the request of the public and the MKs, and serve as arbitrators. The public will not forgive us if a merger does not result in light of the bitter national and social reality facing us."
Porat related to disputes over the agenda of the joint list. "Do they want the party platform not to state clearly that we totally negate the establishment of a Palestinian state, or the uprooting of Jewish communities? If they want to humiliate or hide or nullify the matter of Eretz Yisrael, we will not agree - and I don't think the NRP will agree either."
"Given the current reality," he said, "in which [Ariel Sharon's] Kadima [Forward] party is going backwards, and the Likud is in a daze, it is important that there be one party that speaks clearly about the importance of Eretz Yisrael... and our adherence to it."
"The worst thing is," Porat emphasized, "is that if the social and educational agenda is taken advantage of to reduce the value of Eretz Yisrael, the educational agenda is also reduced, because then it is simply being used. Teaching love of the Land is like teaching love of the Nation and the Torah; these are three things that are one."
In a related story, the 5th and 10th spots on the National Religious Party list will be reserved for a woman and Youth Wing member, respectively. MK Gila Finkelstein has announced that she will run again for the woman's spot, and Chaim Falk is all but guaranteed to receive the Youth spot.
NRP sources have claimed that the National Union is placing too much emphasis on the struggle for the Land of Israel [Eretz Yisrael] for their taste, and that the NRP wishes to give more prominence to social and educational issues.
However, a talk with a close aide to NRP leader Zevulun Orlev [pictured above, right] Moshe Inbar, revealed that the personnel issue is the problem. For one complexity, the NRP originally had six MKs, while the current make-up of the National Union originally had four. The situation reversed itself when two NRP members joined the National Union. The NRP now demands equal representation in the list.
"We are coming with clean hands," Inbar told Arutz-7 today. "We say that there must be a survey carried out as to who - Benny [Elon of the National Union, pictured above left] or Zevulun [Orlev] - will bring more mandates to the joint list, and go according to its findings. Whoever is not #1, will receive the top ministerial portfolio if we join the government - hopefully the Education Ministry."
A-7: "Since Orlev wants the Education Ministry so badly, why doesn't he just agree straight out to be #2 and be the party's candidate for Education Minister?'
Inbar: "Because he wants what's best for the joint list. Perhaps if he heads the list, it would bring in more votes... We are coming with clean hands and without ultimatums; no one can say that our demands are not fair..."
A-7: "Certainly you demand surveys and equality, because you are coming to this partnership with less to offer. You have fewer MKs, and less support in the polls, and the perception that you were less opposed to the disengagement. The National Union is coming with demands because they have more to offer this partnership."
Inbar: "It depends how you look at it. The 2 MKs who joined the National Union received NRP votes, and certain sectors are very pleased with the way the NRP tried to stop the disengagement..."
Arutz-7 then spoke with Asi Talmon, a close aide to National Union MK Tzvi Hendel, who said the following:
"Look, it was clear all along that Benny Elon would head the list. We simply will not agree to a survey [to determine the #1 spot]; it will not be conclusive, it will include all sorts of voters from the left and right, and if it shows that three candidates get 10% each and Orlev gets 12%, then he'll say he should be the leader. But the fact is that many National Union voters simply will not vote for this joint list if Orlev heads it. He has spoken in favor of Avigdor Lieberman's plan [of trading parts of Arab-populated Israel for parts of Judea and Samaria], he wants to join a future government at almost any cost, he is associated with the uprooting of Jewish communities [because the NRP remained in the Sharon government until November 2004]. In addition, we ran a sharp campaign against him demanding that he leave the government. For all these reasons, he simply cannot lead our joint list, and the NRP knows this."
Rabbi Porat said that since a unification of the parties is so important, the rabbis must be more involved. He said he turned to the Chief Rabbis of Ramat Gan, Beit El and Kiryat Arba - Rabbis Yaakov Ariel, Zalman Melamed and Dov Lior - and asked them not to suffice with merely "calling" for a unification. "You must stand with your finger on the pulse," he said he told them, "and if the talks get stuck - not because of agenda problems but because of people - then, please, take the reins and respond to the request of the public and the MKs, and serve as arbitrators. The public will not forgive us if a merger does not result in light of the bitter national and social reality facing us."
Porat related to disputes over the agenda of the joint list. "Do they want the party platform not to state clearly that we totally negate the establishment of a Palestinian state, or the uprooting of Jewish communities? If they want to humiliate or hide or nullify the matter of Eretz Yisrael, we will not agree - and I don't think the NRP will agree either."
"Given the current reality," he said, "in which [Ariel Sharon's] Kadima [Forward] party is going backwards, and the Likud is in a daze, it is important that there be one party that speaks clearly about the importance of Eretz Yisrael... and our adherence to it."
"The worst thing is," Porat emphasized, "is that if the social and educational agenda is taken advantage of to reduce the value of Eretz Yisrael, the educational agenda is also reduced, because then it is simply being used. Teaching love of the Land is like teaching love of the Nation and the Torah; these are three things that are one."
In a related story, the 5th and 10th spots on the National Religious Party list will be reserved for a woman and Youth Wing member, respectively. MK Gila Finkelstein has announced that she will run again for the woman's spot, and Chaim Falk is all but guaranteed to receive the Youth spot.