JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana and Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel will both pay the price for opposing chareidi interests during their tenures in the respective ministries. Chareidi parties have made it clear both to Gidon Saar and Ayelet Shaked that they do not intend to cooperate in a new government with the two ministers.
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In response, Shaked announced that Kahana will not be part of the Yamina party she is trying to reconstruct, since she wishes to try and join a coalition with right-wing and chareidi parties after the election. Saar in turn announced that he was joining Benny Gantz to form a new party together, but was not taking Hendel with him to the new party. Gantz realizes that his only real chance of forming a coalition after the elections depends on cooperation of the chareidim, which will not be viable if Hendel is a member of his party. Hendel was also previously a member of Gantz’s party but left due to ideological differences.
Hendel achieved notoriety in the chareidi public after he cancelled the kosher phone exclusive levels, effectively preventing the possibility of kosher numbers which are controlled and inaccessible to inappropriate content. Hendel’s move was seen as a direct challenge on the sanctity of the chareidi community and his irreverent attitude towards rabbis who opposed him also aroused chareidi indignation.
Kahana’s reforms at the Religious Affairs Ministry were more far reaching and affected kashrus as well as the staffing of key positions in religious affairs. Kahana changed rules regarding conversion, allowing local rabbis to perform conversions and also tampered with the religious councils, attempting to have them abolished. Within just a year Kahana became immensely unpopular in chareidi circles, despite touting himself as a G-d-fearing Jew. The minister has been refused a place in Yamina and now finds himself with no political future due to the chareidi veto against him.
Kahana responded to the chareidi veto by stating that “It’s not me that scares them but my ideology and those that I represent. The group which I come from and which they have tried for years to shun and to belittle- Religious Zionism.”
Good!
MK Matan Kahana acted wholly irresponsibly and even maliciously a la Avigdor Liberman. They wrecked an entire network of pieces that hold kedushas Am Yisrael together. To tamper with these things is tantamount to attacking the Torah and its Chachamim. I’m glad his future is done and I’m hopeful his misdeeds can somehow be revisited and revised.
Those two were divisive and antagonistic.
“Inaccessible to inappropriate content…” My “approved” phone did not allow me to restore damaged service from the Israeli “Bezek” phone company (which supplies me with this VIN “Kosher” news service.) I was also not able to call a donor, who I needed to receive funds from, because I was disallowed from re-starting my business after an accident, or learning a trade with the cash I received.
Its a shame bec some of Khanna stuff was about fighting charedi corruption. While we don’t agree with all his moves and some do affect religious views and ideals, caredim need to wake up and stamp out corruption
“Hendel achieved notoriety in the chareidi public after he cancelled the kosher phone exclusive levels, effectively preventing the possibility of kosher numbers which are controlled and inaccessible to inappropriate content”
This is not true. You would STILL be able to buy kosher phones. The only difference is, is that if you wanted to move to a non-kosher device, you would be able to take that number with you, just like anybody else.
I actually thought hendel was very respectful of the community. There were even articles here on vin indicating how seriously he took the community’s concerns around this issue. Why throw him under the bus now?
Let us hope that all these so called “religous” zionists are treated the same way let’s hope here in the US YU and YI stop their misguided tefila for the Medina and hallel for the founding of this temporary entity
Amazing how power corrupts and you begin to believe your own non sense like Bennett
“No political future” is a bit extreme.
More correctly, “no political future” with parties currently seeking alignment with currently-constituted haredi parties.
The kosher phone overhaul, while not popular with those who seek to control and profit from haredim, was quite popular with the haredi “man on the street.”
Haredi parties are expected to either decline in popularity or realign in order to retain the loyalty of the “new haredim” who will otherwise move to Likud.
If the haredi parties decline, then other parties will not need them.
If they re-align, then Hendel and Kahane would no longer be so objectionable.
It’s good that we charedim rise above and do not take political revenge