Incoming Religious Affairs Minister Mattan Kahana: I Won’t Violate Even A Millimeter Of Halacha

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — I have great honor, admiration and reverence towards scholars and students of Torah and I hope that I will continue to be received in their homes,” says incoming Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana in a recent interview with the Chareidi media.  Kahana added that “in the end we are working now for the State of Israel and I did not become religious affairs minister for no reason. The Torah world is important to me because Judaism is important to me. I am a religious person who keeps mitzvos and I will not lend my hand to destruction of the Torah world.”

Kahana’s resume includes a unique combination of IDF service- he was both a member of the crack Sayeret Matkal, the IDF’s special reconnaisance unit, where he met with Naftali Bennett and established a close personal relationship with him, and later also served as a fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, where he commanded a squadron of F-16s, serving until his release in 2018.

Kahana says that he understands the sense of foreboding on the part of the chareidi public but stresses that  “I promise my chareidi brothers that we will ensure that the Torah world will continue to flourish, and this is what we are there for.

When asked by a chareidi journalist how he intended to combat Avigdor Libermans’ declarations that he would cut budgets for the chareidi public, Kahana said that “I will not lend a hand to destruction of the Torah world. The Torah is the living soul of the state of Israel and I will do all in my power to strengthen Judaism in the state of Israel and will not violate even a millimeter of halacha.”