“Hello hello, hello hello.” This sentence was heard for the first time by a Zionist prisoner released after 12 years in a Soviet prison, Natan Sharansky, when he landed in Germany to meet his wife at the American base in Frankfurt. The one who greeted him was a bearded and short guy, named Avi Maoz, who at the time was one of the leaders of the struggle for Sharansky’s release and was even one of the leaders of the “Send My People” headquarters.
“Netanyahu respects, understands his position”: the personal relationship with Avi Maoz, from 35 years ago
Maoz and Netanyahu, a personal relationship built over decades. Photos: Flash 90
And what is the connection between this story from 35 years ago and today’s politics? This week, Binyamin Netanyahu arrived at the home of Rabbi Tao, rabbi of the ‘Noam’ party, to check whether there is a possibility that MK Avi Maoz will run together with the religious Zionist party. In Noam claim that the decision that was finally made to run jointly (in a technical block only) is not related to the request of Netanyahu talks, but in fact there is a close connection between what happened this week and the same story in Frankfurt.
While Sharansky was in prison, Netanyahu served as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations. The struggle for the release of the prisoner of Zion was relatively dormant, when Maoz entered the picture and began to mobilize as many well-known public figures from around the world as possible who called for Sharansky’s release. Maoz even used to give advice to Netanyahu on how to lead the The struggle for the release of the prisoner of Zion, until the happy and well-known end in which Sharansky arrived in Israel.
Since then, according to the Noam party, a close and warm bond has been forged between Netanyahu and Ma’oz. The good relationship between them even leads to many meetings between the two, meetings most of which are not reported to the public. “Bibi appreciates my father, who knows how to move a thing or two,” they claim. This is also what happened in Netanyahu’s attempts to lead Maoz back to the “religious Zionist” party. It was not just an experience, but out of a personal relationship between them.
“People don’t understand this, they think that Netanyahu promised my father some important position or something in exchange for his return to Smotrich and Ben Gvir. People are wrong,” emphasizes Naam, explaining that “Netanyahu did not put pressure on Rabbi Tao, he respects and understands his position very well My father’s decision also did not come because of Netanyahu, but because of consultations with his rabbis and the decision made on a purely technical block.”
“The ultra-orthodox education is robbing the public purse, extortionists”: Kara’s request from the Sephardic party, which was rejected
Knight Kara. He expressed hatred against the ultra-orthodox education system. Photo: Olivia Pitosi/Flash 90
“Listen, they are extorting the public purse, causing damage to the country. The government is giving in to their blackmail.” These words were written by MK Abir Kara to activists in his party, against the background of the public storm that erupted with Netanyahu’s promise to the ultra-Orthodox to match budgeting for educational institutions, even without them learning the Jewish Law. When one of the activists countered that the ultra-Orthodox education system is much better than the secular one, Kara replied, “But why should I finance them with my money?” He also responded to the activist: “Most of your money finances families with children.”
The argument with the activist continued, when he claimed that Kara is lying because “it’s not true… the ultra-orthodox education receives 4 billion a year”. Kara replied: “I have no problem with families having children, I’m simply in favor of financing the decisions you make.” When his activists asked him what he intends to do next with the ultra-orthodox education system, Kara made his intentions clear, emphasizing: “The celebration at the expense of working citizens is about to end. Soon” (the period between the words is in the original).
More of Kara’s comments on the ultra-Orthodox education system: “Extortion of public money, they are squeezing the public purse; we will give them vouchers for free elementary education; as of today, they and the Arab population are a very heavy burden on working citizens; their damage to the state is NIS 150 billion; they are screwing everyone “. Kara obviously chose to ignore the percentage of work in ultra-Orthodox society, which is only increasing year by year, without talking about the particularly high percentage of work among ultra-Orthodox women.
Last Thursday, Abir Kara submitted the “Economic Freedom” party, a party that will run alone and without connections, and that will focus on helping the self-employed. The letters he received from the election committee are “atz”, with the approval of the Labor and Meretz parties. But from my conversation with Kara himself an interesting story was revealed, according to which he initially wanted the name of the party to be “Ash”. But for this he also needs approval from another party, a recognized ultra-orthodox party.
The letter S on the ballot belongs to the Shas party, so Kara had to get permission to use it. In the last second, Abir Kara’s assistant, Ben Yakir, turned to the Shas faction office to get him approved – where he was referred to the office of the faction’s director, Knesset member Michael Malchiali . The latter himself denied that he was contacted, but according to Kara, he personally called Melchiali to get permission, and he refused to give it to him. Someone like Kara who expresses such hatred against the ultra-orthodox sector probably does not deserve to get what he wants.
Politics in a small way: the Ashkenazi candidate in the Shas.
Aryeh Deri. I understand that it is not possible to change the position of the list. Photo: Jonathan Sindel/Flash 90
Yossi Galant, a member of the Safed Municipality Council on behalf of Shas, was placed 16th on the national list for the Knesset. The surprise was not great that he was not placed in a realistic place, not even after Deri was quoted in an interview as saying that “I receive hundreds of requests from people from the Ashkenazi public who feel that we are the ones who represent them. I think there is a place for an Ashkenazi representative within Shas, I am definitely looking for someone who is suitable for this position.” From this place where he was placed, Galant will no longer accept a position in the Knesset.
After closing the lists, a Shas senior explained to me that “Aryeh said it jokingly, he didn’t really mean it. In the past he offered Israel Eichler and some other small group, this time it was clear that he had no intention of doing so. Aryeh understands that arming an Ashkenazi candidate will damage the party’s Spanish headquarters.” The official emphasized why Galant was not placed in a realistic position: “It is not related to starting a war against the ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi parties, but to the fact that the Shas voters themselves will be disappointed.”